Joseph of Arimathea gently lays the body of Jesus down on a stone shelf-like structure in the tomb that was supposed to be his family's final resting place. Although to those surrounding Him it seems like this is the end for Jesus, we know that that is not the case. While His disciples and his mother are mourning the loss of his life and are trying to grasp what has happened now that everything they know is seemingly gone, Christ is fully alive, saving souls and opening the Gates of Heaven so that all, by His grace and mercy, could spend eternity with He and the Father.
As Christians, one of our duties is to bury the dead. This is one of the Corporal Works of Mercy. These actions are those that involve taking care of other people's physical bodies and include feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick, visiting prisoners, burying the dead, and giving alms to the poor. When we do these things in our everyday lives, we are serving Christ. Joseph of Arimathea is regarded as one of the best examples of practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy. Although in this time of isolation, it may be difficult to help people in person, there are still things you can do to practice the Corporal Works of Mercy. Here are a few ideas:
Feeding the Hungry:
-Donate to a local food bank or food pantry
-Call family members and friends and see if they need any food items that you might have extras of
-Play this game: https://beta.freerice.com/ to donate rice to families in poverty while improving your word skills. There's also an app!!
Giving Drink to the Thirsty:
- Conserve water in normal ways ( turn off water when brushing teeth, showers instead of baths, etc.) BUT STILL WASH YOUR HANDS!!!
- Donate water bottles to food pantries
-Donate to water charities such as The Water Project. Check out this link to see what they do! https://www.charitywater.org/about/mission
Shelter the Homeless:
- Pray.
- Hand out masks. Here's a video about how to make them from one of this blog's subscribers! https://youtu.be/FiBdnHSCTlg
Visit the Sick:
- Check on family members or friends who are sick (virtually, of course)
- Make a care package for healthcare workers
- Pray for the health and healing of the world
Visit the Prisoners:
- Pray
- Check on people who work in prisons
Bury the Dead:
- Pray for all those who have lost a loved one during this time
- Donate flowers to a cemetery still allowing burials
- Pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy for all those who have died. Here's a link explaining how to pray the chaplet: https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet
Give alms to the poor:
- Donate money to charities helping the poor
- Give food or clothing to those in need
- Donate to the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
The best thing we can do right now to keep each other safe is pray. Prayer is the most powerful weapon that we have right now and our world desperately needs us to use it during this crisis. Let me know in the comments how you and your family are practicing the Corporal Works of Mercy in this time when so many are in need.
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