Weber is the author of a new book, “Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job."
For Cathedral High School and Providence (R.I.) College alumna Kerry A. Weber, mercy is a motivating force.
Weber, who also graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York, quotes the Rev. James Keenan, a noted U.S. Jesuit priest and theologian, who described mercy as “the willingness to enter into the chaos of another.”
Weber is the author of a new book, “Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job,” recently released by Loyola Press. Her first book, “Keeping the Faith: Prayers for College Students,” was published in 2009 by Twenty-Third Publications.
“In everyday life, mercy means loving others always, even when it’s difficult,” she said. “I think mercy is often thought of as a single act. Or, it is thought of as something we have, or something we give, but it really is more of a mindset, a framework for the way we live our lives everyday.”
Weber, a lay associate with the Sisters of Mercy Mid-Atlantic Community, and managing editor of America magazine, set out to see if she could practice the Gospel's corporal works of mercy as part of her daily life.
The acts, enumerated in the Gospel of Matthew, are: feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned and bury the dead.
Weber had been researching an article for America about the prison chaplain at California’s San Quentin State Prison. Her plan was to visit the prison, and to report on a theology class being taught there. In the process of her research, she read a list of the works of mercy. “I’d read about the works of mercy in school and in scripture, but as I read through the list again, I realized how rarely I actually made these things a part of my life,” said Weber, who graduated in 2004 from Providence, with a degree in English, and, in 2009, from Columbia, with a master’s in magazine writing.
“I was already planning to visit the imprisoned, but I wanted to challenge myself to really try to better understand what was at the heart of these works of mercy.”
Burying the dead had special poignancy when Weber’s family buried her niece, Marian Elizabeth Begley, who was only a few hours old when she died in the fall.
“Her funeral was one of the saddest and most beautiful events I’ve ever been a part of. To be able to put the event into the context of mercy, and to see this act as part of the path we commit to as followers of Christ, was helpful, as I continued to mourn,” she said. “Marian’s brief life was an example of mercy, and a call to mercy in so many ways, which is why I dedicated the book to her.”
For Weber, 31, the corporal works of mercy are important because they’re both practical and radical.
“By doing them we can help to meet the needs of the people around us, whether those needs are spiritual or physical. They simultaneously transform society and ourselves,” she said.
“We are pushed to grow in our relationship with God. I think a lot of young people today are longing for community, and these acts help to bring us together, and remind us of our shared humanity, as people of God and people of good will.”
Weber’s book documents her 2012 attempt to complete all seven acts over the course of about 40 days.
“I was trying to delve more deeply into this spirit of mercy, while also trying to figure out which works resonated with me the most, so that I might pursue them more deliberately in my life. Still, despite their experimental nature, I tried throughout the project to be sure to do these things as authentically as possible, and to make efforts to build relationships.”
Each work of mercy involved a slightly different time commitment and circumstance. For some, like serving sandwiches in a breadline, Weber returned several times. For others, she served at a one-time event, like handing out water at a half marathon.
“In all of them, I took away graces that stayed with me throughout the experience, and which continue to influence my perspective each day,” she said.
Weber was a part of the Mercy Volunteer Corps, serving in St. Michaels, Ariz., for a year, from August 2004, as a co-teacher in a special education classroom for teenagers.
She is the daughter of John and Peggy Weber; the latter is a columnist, producer and reporter for The Catholic Mirror, the magazine of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, and for Real to Reel, the diocesan television news magazine.
Kerry Weber has been involved with Catholic media since childhood, when she sometimes went to the office with her mother. Later, she worked with her mother and contributed to the diocesan newspaper and television programs.
“The experience allowed me to learn a lot of the basics of journalism in the midst of a lot of wonderful people,” she said. “I had a chance to see the wide range of topics that our faith could touch on, and the many ways in which local Catholics inspired and served their neighbors.”
Weber’s parents have been examples of mercy to her as has Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement, and Pope Francis, who is the first Jesuit pope.
“I think it’s safe to say that mercy already has become a central theme of his papacy,” Weber said. “He’s lived humbly, and he’s visited the sick and the imprisoned, and he’s brought more attention to the role of the need to go out into the world to meet people where they are. He even urged the Vatican Almoner (the Vatican’s alms giver) to go out and look for the poor. Pope Francis has really urged the church, along with all people of good will, to reach out to those in need and to be present to each other.”
Many people wonder how they can volunteer more or serve more.
“In my own life, it was a matter of setting new priorities, of being more deliberate about how I spent my time,” Weber said. “When I’m waking up at 5 a.m. to go to a breadline, I’m less likely to stay up late in the evening watching Netflix.”
Weber added, “I found myself feeling happier and more purposeful when I was serving others, and my project became something I wanted to do, not just something I’d challenged myself to complete. I was always learning something new. But I didn’t always strike the right balance, and I often found myself feeling a bit tired, as well.”
Weber contends anyone can find time to serve others through the acts of mercy. “We just need to think creatively and be willing to challenge ourselves.”
God is always a part of the process, she added, “and we can’t be afraid to ask for God’s help along the way.”
She said it is a comfort knowing that God’s own mercy is far beyond individuals’ mercy.
“We also need to allow ourselves to recognize the things we already do, the small ways in which we help to meet others’ needs, and the ways in which God’s mercy and our own already are present in ways we might not always recognize right away.”
“Mercy in the City: How to Feed the Hungry, Give Drink to the Thirsty, Visit the Imprisoned, and Keep Your Day Job” has 160 pages and sells in paperback for $13.95. It is available at Loyolapress.com/mercy.
Of the book, the site notes:
"For those who feel they are already over scheduled and too busy, for those who assume that they are not “religious enough” to practice the Works of Mercy, for those who worry that they are alone in their efforts to live an authentic life, 'Mercy in the City' proves that by living as people for others, we learn to connect as people of faith."
The book is also available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com.