How to be a missionary of mercy: Bishop Caggiano blows minds at WYD

You can help people every single day.

Too many people believe God has only called a select few to the path of mercy and compassion when the truth is we have all been called to be missionaries of mercy.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Catholic News Service, many young pilgrims who traveled to Poland for World Youth Day are realizing they can make a difference in the world.

Tara Gouldring, an 18-year-old from Birmingham, explained: "It's inspiring to see God's mercy in so many ways and how I can bring it into my life and how (to) love people even though they do you wrong.

"You can start with prayer for people who need help and hope to help more from there."

At eighteen, Gouldring learned a lesson some never do.

You can spread the message of God's everlasting mercy through simple acts of love - particularly to those who have wronged you.

No one is without sin.

Matthew 6:14 reads, "'Yes, if you forgive others their failings, your heavenly Father will forgive you yours.'"

It is God's place to bless us and our place to forgive one another.

The next time you see someone with a sign about how hungry they are or "anything helps," ask yourself what the Lord would do. Would he look at the shoes they are wearing or question whether they were being lazy?

The Lord loves us all indiscriminately. We have been called to do the same.

During World Youth Day, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano spoke during a morning catechetical session, where he explained anyone would become a missionary of mercy simply by showing compassion, love and caring toward the suffering.

He described his life before becoming a priest and how a homeless man in a plaza was in obvious need but was ignored by all - including himself.

"I was so self-absorbed it took me two months to realize this was a man there. I would literally step over him."

To atone for his sin, he began to give the man $1 each day and admitted: "I thought I was giving him what he needed. I thought I was doing something good. I thought I was an OK Catholic."

Though the bishop believed he was doing what God had called him to do, Bishop Caggiano soon realized his error.

"My friends," he began: "that may be good enough for the world, but that's not good enough for Jesus Christ. That is not what we are being called to do. We are being called to more than that.

"You get down on your knees and put your hands under them and you bring them close to you and you lift them up. And the smell of the sheep is when your heart and their heart are so close that they touch. Is it east? No. Is it going to be something you and I will fail at? Yes.

"Are we going to learn from failure? Yes, because Christ will love us."

One young adult heard Bishop Caggiano's story and heard her own echoed in it.

"Instead of just handing people money, I should get up and give them a hug and make them feel like they're a person too, like they're accepted in society," she admitted.

"Something more physical than just giving them some coins and walking by. I think I need to re-evaluate how I look at things now and how I act toward people who are homeless or less fortunate."

Toby Duckworth, another youth attending WYD, explained: "The challenge is to go beyond what the world sees as mercy. To go beyond even what we as human beings think is merciful. To me that is constant challenge, always, everywhere."

Heavenly Father,

Teach me to love the unwanted, to share your mercy and compassion with the needy, and to separate judgement from my mind. Help me understand your loving heart and to emanate that love in all that I do.

Thank you, Father, for your undying mercy. Forgive me my trespasses and place in me a boldness to do what you desire of me, not what the world says is "enough."

Thank you, Lord.

Amen.

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