STEUBENVILLE, OH— Seven works of mercy. Six events. Two weekends. Nearly 50 Franciscan University students completed the 7 corporal works of mercy last month through Project Mercy, a student-led, campus-wide outreach.

Emily McMahon, a junior special education major from Rehoboth, Massachusetts, spearheaded the project. However, she doesn’t take all the credit. “It was God’s idea,” she says.

Held during Franciscan University’s celebration of the Year of Mercy, Project Mercy worked with six households and the Missionary Outreach Office to organize this special project.

As part of the project, students went to the City Rescue Mission Homeless Shelter on Friday, October 16, sharing a meal and spending time with the people there (“Shelter the Homeless”). On Saturday of that same weekend, students prayed a Rosary and left flowers at a local cemetery (“Bury the Dead”). They also visited the residents of Catherine’s Care Center Assisted Living in Steubenville (“Visit the Sick”).

The next weekend, students helped sort, price, and tag clothing with the Franciscan TOR sisters at the downtown Samaritan House thrift store (“Clothe the Naked”). Then they went to the LAMP soup kitchen to prepare and serve food (“Feed the Hungry” and “Give Drink to the Thirsty”). On Sunday, students wrote letters to those in prison to show Christ’s love and comfort them (“Visit the Imprisoned”).

McMahon says, “Mercy is so important even if we can’t fully comprehend and understand it. Jesus loved and sacrificed because of mercy, therefore it is important for us to serve as a reflection of Christ’s unconditional love in everything we do.”

McMahon encourages students and others to join the challenge to complete all 7 works of mercy, even if they did not participate in the events.