Feed the Hungry
Active Mercy by Father Michael Gaitley
This post is one in a series on the Works of Mercy. Released on Mondays, each essay is a short reflection on one Work and one chapter of Dynamic Catholic’s book Beautiful Mercy. Read more about the series here.
The first Corporal Work of Mercy listed in the Gospel of Matthew is feeding the hungry, and its primacy is reflected in Catholic churches and charities all over the world. One of the most visible indications of the faithful carrying it out is seen every Sunday in the entrances and common areas outside of sanctuaries, brown paper bags full of groceries from worshippers set to be taken to a food pantry for those in need.
Filling a food pantry for the poor or serving in a soup kitchen for the homeless are probably the first things that come to mind when considering the call to feed the hungry. Yet, there are any other ways to carry out this work that one may not consider right away. Many of these are outlined by Father Michael Gaitley in his essay “Active Mercy.”
The first way to feed the hungry that Father Gaitley identifies is making a meal for a family in need. If we take the time to notice, we’ll see family, friends, and neighbors who could simply use a casserole. The new parents, the friend recovering from surgery, the neighbor who just lost a loved one - those of us who have been on the receiving end of such mercy know what a huge difference it makes to not have to worry about dinner for one more day. It can serve to visit the sick and comfort the afflicted as well, and sometimes it’s as easy as making some extra soup one night to freeze for someone who might need it soon. This type of mercy doesn’t need to be fussy, and is a great way to show up for those friends in our lives who are terrible at asking for help. “Hey, I made this for you, can I bring it by tonight or tomorrow?” is almost always a welcome text for someone in a stressful situation.
From here, we move onto the ways parents and homemakers feed the hungry family members in their households every day. It seems like feeding the hungry in this way shouldn’t really “count.” Don’t most of us have to make dinner every night? But, Father Gaitley states, “so many of our actions can be transformed from what seems like meaningless labor into works of love - if we consciously choose to make them so. In other words, every day, each one of us has a choice: Will I do my work mindlessly and grudgingly, or will I do it out of love?” This thought carries over to those of us who work to make money to feed our families. Even the most tedious of jobs is a great act of love, especially when completed out of love for those we have been given to feed.
There are, of course, more dramatic ways of feeding the hungry. From an NFL team supplying funds for a bakery in Africa to elementary school kids staging a fundraiser for water tanks in Rwanda, Father Gaitley invites us not to shy away from big opportunities to provide for those in need. Indeed, sometimes the Lord calls us to such huge opportunities, and sometimes he calls us to throw some chicken nuggets on a sheet pan. Let us be open to seeing the opportunities to feed others in love, no matter how big or how small.