Pope Francis, in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in September 2016, said that the seven corporal and spiritual works of mercy can now include an eighth one: ‘care for our common home,’ the Earth and the whole of creation. Entitled ‘Show mercy to our common home,’ his message states that the first step in this process of ecological conversion is an examination of conscience. This involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works…
It also entails a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creation but joined in a splendid universal communion…“Inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation…” Then he directs us to change our ways: “Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment. This, in turn, must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation.”
For example: “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices” (Laudato Si,’ 211). He continued, “We must not think that these efforts are too small to improve our world. They “call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread” and encourage “a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment, free of the obsession with consumption” (ibid., 212, 222).”
According to Pope Francis, economics and politics, society and culture should not be dominated by short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains. Instead, they need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation. He mentioned that one concrete case is the “ecological debt” between the global north and south (cf. Laudato Si,’ 51-2). He said that repaying it would require treating the environments of poorer nations with care and providing the financial resources and technical assistance needed to help them deal with climate change and promote sustainable development.
Changing course, thus, means “keeping the original commandment to preserve creation from all harm, both for our sake and for the sake of our fellow human beings. A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” (Laudato Si,’ 160).
With all these thoughts, he proposed a new work of mercy: “Nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practice acts of mercy in his name.” He explains that Christian life involves the practice of the traditional seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy: “We usually think of the works of mercy individually and in relation to a specific initiative: hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those needing counsel and forgiveness… But if we look at the works of mercy, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.”
Pope Francis explains how care for creation complements the two traditional sets of seven works of mercy.: “As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world” (Laudato Si, 214) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us” (ibid., 85). As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world” (ibid., 230-31).
Thus, this eighth work of mercy of care for our common home is a new and significant understanding of the biblical measure of how we will be judged on the last day, “Whatever you do to the least… you did it to me (Mt 25:40). It urges us to work to change the conditions of the social and natural world by responding concretely to many new forms of poverty in our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world.
