Recently, I received a letter from a woman living as a nun in a contemplative order. She and her sisters in the monastery offer prayers for me. This is a welcome consolation for which I am personally grateful to her and the community.
In her letter, she reflected on concerns brought to her from Catholic parents about the challenges passing on the Catholic faith to their children. She has often heard the frustrations and worries for the spiritual welfare of their children along with the request of prayers from the monastery for them. Her own preoccupations for these Catholic parents echo the tears and sorrows that come to my brother priests and me from many mothers and fathers. The tepid faith among the youth contributes to dwindling numbers of women and men seeking a religious vocation or the priesthood. It is also a factor in the dramatic decline of marriages. In the listening sessions Pope Francis asked the bishops of the world to undertake in preparation for the Synod on Synodality, in 2023 and 2024, the waning faith of young people was a common ache that arose during many parish conversations.
As a good contemplative nun, our sister took the Church’s concerns to heart and brought them to prayer. While she was preparing for the Feast of Pentecost, she was given an insight that served as the motive of her letter: “I think that the answer lies in charity.” In the main body of her letter she shared with me her reflection based on verses from the letter of St. James: “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Indeed someone may say, ‘You have faith and I have works. Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.’” (Js. 2:17-18)
Our quiet sister helped me read the admonition from St. James in a new light. “Not only does charity flow from faith,” she wrote, “but it works the other way around: charity keeps faith from diminishing and dying.” This contemplative revelation is bolstered by the wisdom of the Church. Another contemplative soul, St. Therese of Lisieux, the young French Carmelite mystic believed the mighty power of God was present in the smallest, most humble acts of charity. The testimony of those who would voice their heavenly assent are a formidable litany of saints: Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Josephine Bakhita, Frances Xavier Cabrini, Marianne Cope, Katharine Drexel, Gemma Galgani, and María Teresa Goretti, to name a few.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (2005), brilliantly and boldly asserted the vital role of charity. He said, “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.” (DCE, 14) These words echo the common sense teaching of St. James, “Faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” When we consider the challenges of providing Catholic formation to children and young people, in the prevailing secular-technological milieu, it is vital to offer the robust Catholic teaching tradition so that young people have a living encounter with the Lord Jesus and understand the beauty and wisdom of his gospel in the life of the Church. An essential dimension of this tradition is the spiritual and temporal works of mercy.
A brief reminder may help. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2447) instructs us, “The works of mercy are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities. Instructing, advising, consoling, and comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently. The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.”
Passing on the Catholic faith, including the works of mercy, is more than a cognitive exercise. While cognitive understanding and retention of the teachings of the Catholic Church are an important duty of parents, catechists, and pastors, these teachings must also become habitual. The truths of the faith only become personal and natural for an individual when they are repeated. The signing of the cross, genuflection, kneeling during the Eucharistic prayer at Mass, and many other worthwhile pious gestures reinforce and engrain the knowledge of the faith in the hearts of young people. Weekly participation at Sunday Mass, recitation of the Holy Rosary, daily examination of conscience, regular reception of the Sacrament of Confession, grace before as well as thanksgiving following every meal, and other religious habits help the young and old permeate their lives with the faith, making the heart more attuned to the living presence of Christ.
To these beautiful Catholic habits our contemplative sister encourages, and I wholeheartedly endorse, the frequent practice of the spiritual and temporal works of mercy. When these are practiced, along with those mentioned above, the faith empowers our works and the works enliven our faith. Following Pope Benedict’s wise insight, the Holy Eucharist compels us to holy works of mercy, “concrete practice of love.” In this way, the many works of mercy have a tangible sacramental character. “We become what we receive,” as St. Augustine taught us. Our prayerful sister explained, “What should happen as a result (of the works of mercy) is that the children will grow in compassion and self-sacrifice, be aroused with the desire to bring people hope and salvation.” She believed that this would boost the number of religious and priestly vocations among the young. The habit of charity will also enkindle a more enduring, eager flame of discipleship for any number of vocations: lay, consecrated, and ordained. Each effort to exercise a work of mercy will reinforce the Lord’s own admonition to the disciples on the night before he died, “As I have done, so you must do.”
In writing to me, our contemplative sister hoped her thoughts might assist parents and pastors. I hope these reflections serve her purpose. Sister’s caring letter revealed a maternal heart eager to encourage all mothers and fathers in their own holy vocation. While living in the cloister, her letter performed a work of mercy. Indeed, the contemplative life is itself a charitable work. The dedication to silence and prayer binds this quiet disciple and her sisters to the whole body of Christ in the eternal work of redemptive mercy. May her abiding humble service and prayers continue to bear much fruit for the glory of God, the good of the Church and the salvation of souls.