Expert: Fr. Michael - 11/4/2005

Question
Father;
     I was "expounding" on the church teaching us to be merciful through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.  My friend asked me what the source of the works were/are.  I told him I suspected straight from Christ/gospels.  When were they actually"compiled" into formal lists?  I'm particularly interested in the first thru third spiritual works:  1. Admonish sinners, 2. Instruct the uninformed, 3. Counsel the doubtful.     It appears that todays church (I'm 64; I remember a different day) does very little in the way of admonishment. Frequently when I'm in social discussions I challenge people on various positions (eg. abortion) My wife becomes uncomfortable and would rather I "leave it alone".   My response is: "I'm supposed to, I'm practicing a spiritual work of mercy."   Sorry for rambling Father, what say you?

              Respectfully in Christ,
                       Al Columbus  

Answer
Yes, ultimately they derive from Scripture.  Certainly by the time of St. Thomas Aquinas you find them listed in the Summa Theologica, though probably they were listed much earlier than that.

There is a vicious error circulating these days that people should be left in their immorality and ignorance without anyone saying a word because it might be offensive.  Well, it should be:  sinners must be corrected; one can't sit on the truth and say that he practices charity.

By "today's Church" you must mean not the traditional Church, but what many are now calling the Counterfeit Church, which was concocted after Vatican II and injected into the local dioceses.  Although these churches pose as "Catholic," they are not in any traditional definition of that word.

Fortunately there, hundreds of fine priests that will have nothing to do with a corrupt institution, whose purpose is to teach a New Theology, a New Morality, and a New Protestantized "liturgy."  For traditional sites and information, see www.traditio.com.