Works of mercy in His Name
The apostolate of the Sacred Heart is finally an apostolate of mercy — to feed the hungry, to instruct the ignorant, to forgive offenses, to bear wrongs patiently.
Why this practice
The Sacred Heart devotion is not a private piety. It is a way of life that overflows into the world in works of mercy. To love His Heart is to love what His Heart loves — and His Heart loves the poor, the ignorant, the sinful, the dying, the abandoned.
The seven corporal works (feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, shelter the homeless, clothe the naked, visit the sick, ransom the captive, bury the dead) and the seven spiritual works (instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish the sinner, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses, comfort the afflicted, pray for the living and the dead) are not optional add-ons. They are how the Heart of Jesus uses His own.
How to begin
Whatever you did to the least of these, you did to Me.
— Matthew 25:40
A prayer for this practice
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I love Thy least ones. Show me the one I am to serve today, and give me Thy patience, Thy gentleness, Thy strength. May this work be done in Thee, by Thee, for Thee.
Amen.