What are good works?
Which are the principal good works?
Prayer, fasting, and alms deeds. These are especially inculcated in holy Scripture. (Tob. 13: 8) By prayer is here understood all religious services; by fasting all mortification of soul and body; by alms, deeds all works of charity.
How many kinds of charitable works are there?
Two kinds: spiritual and corporal.
Which are the spiratual works of mercy?
Those that are performed for the good of the soul: to admonish sinners; to teach the ignorant; to counsel the doubtful; to console the afflicted; to suffer injustice patiently; to forgive all injuries, and to pray for the living and the dead.
Which are the corporal works?
Those which are performed for the good of the body: to feed the hungry; to give drink to the thirsty; to clothe the naked; to visit and ransom the captives; to harbor the harborless; to visit the sick; and to bury the dead.
Can we be saved without good works?
No, for Christ expressly, says: Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. The servant in the gospel who did not even waste the talent received, but only hid it in the ground, was therefore cast into outer darkness. How greatly do those err who hope to reach heaven, simply because they do no evil! Of this great mistake St. Chrysostom plainly says: "If you had a servant who was in truth no robber, no glutton or drunkard, but who sat at home idle, neglecting everything for which you had employed him, would you not pay him with the whip and send him off? Is it not bad enough to neglect that which duty demands?" Such a servant is the Christian who, doing neither good nor evil, makes himself thereby unfit for heaven which is the reward of work performed, and if no work has been done, no reward is to be expected.
Supplication. O Lord, guard me from false prophets, heretics, and seducers, and grant me the grace, that according to St. Paul's instructions I may become fruitful in all good works. Inflame my heart, that I may adorn my , faith with them, thus do the will of the Heavenly Father, and render myself worthy of heaven.
after Fr Goffine's "Devout Instructions" after sspx.asia
Image - "Angelus" by Polish artist A.Gierymski
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