Corporal Works of Mercy

The Gospel today was about Lazarus (the poor man, not Martha and Mary's sister) and the Rich Man who goes to Hell and begs to go back and tell his brothers to be better so that they will not meet his same fate.  Our priest gave a good homily on what the Rich Man did, or did not do to go to hell (and on a side note, a homily that Cody and I actually heard due to Sean's excellent behavior in mass today--in the 3rd row without any toys except his baby Bible--we were very proud of him).  He emphasized that the Rich Man may not have actively done anything wrong, but that he didn't go out of his way to do anything right either-- he went along with poor Lazarus suffering outside his door "as if he were just a part of the landscape."  Fr. Wilson went on to challenge us all to study and perform corporal acts of mercy-- to actively engage ourselves in serving the poor (feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked, etc etc).  *proof of Sean's good behavior is the fact that I can actually discuss the content of the homily, rather than most weeks when I come home without a clue of anything that went on during mass.* 

On the way home our family had the following conversation:

Cody: I've been thinking more about how our family can directly serve the poor.
Erin: Me too.  What kind of activities do you think we could do?
Sean: Watch T.V. 

I'm not sure he totally understood the concept. 

Unfortunately, within a few minutes of getting home from the early mass today we were touched with a very real, tangible way to perform some corporal acts of mercy.  Our family's oldest and dearest friends' house burned down last night-- after living next to my grandparents for 40 years.  Nothing was salvaged but themselves after building their life in that home for so many years.  It is troubling and devastating news, and exactly the time that God is calling us to serve those like Lazarus-- suffering and poor on our very doorstep.  Please pray for the Wolfstiches with me as we take Jesus's words to heart and offer our prayers and our works for them this week.