This week, we’re going to complete our study of the works of mercy, this time focusing on the corporal.  Corporal comes from the Latin word, “corpus,” which refers to the body*.  Corporal Works of Mercy are things we do to care for each other physically.

They mainly come from the Last Judgment narrative that can be found in Matthew 25:31-46, where Jesus very clearly told us that doing those things for anyone is exactly like we are doing them for Him.  On the more disturbing side of the coin, He also very clearly said that people who do not do these things are going to “eternal punishment” rather than to “eternal life.”  Seems kind of important, eh?

The language is much simpler than last week’s set of Spiritual Works, but we still want to make sure your kids know how each of them can work on this list, so we have another game (this time, bingo).  To prepare, you’ll want to cup apart the Bingo Calling Cards and drop them into a bowl so you can randomly draw them for the game.  Simply read the descriptions on the the back of each as you play and use that as a springboard for conversation on how YOUR FAMILY can do some of these.

At the end, there’s a chance for each of your kids to put this into practice by picking something practical they can really do.  Simply have them fill out the Contract and post it somewhere in your house as a reminder.

• *Corporal: Relating to the body
  Corporate: Combined into one body, often by a legal agreement
  Corpse: A dead body
  Corps: A body of people organized for a common service, such as the Marine Corps or Peace Corps.
  Corpuscle: (diminutive of corpus) A small part of the body