33rd Sunday - Fr. Leo
The Apostles faith was reflected in the way they lived their lives. Preaching the Gospel and bringing people to faith in God through Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, was the center of the Apostles existence. This came before anything else. The integrity of the Apostles mission was also evident in the way they achieved their subsistence. They worked hard, in toil and drudgery, night and day, so as not to be a burden. Motivated by love, the Apostles didn’t demand charity from their listeners, but gave themselves as models for those who want to share in the life of the Christian community. Just because the early Christians shared all in common, didn’t mean individuals could take advantage of the system. Out of love, everyone was to contribute what they could. This is clear in the instructions too, not conduct one’s self in a disorderly way, mind one’s own business all while working quietly and eating one’s own food.
I focus on this, because it says something about true charity. First, we can not as a society or as a church demand the charity of others. Charity is not charity if it’s stolen from others. Charity can not be based on debt that is not paid. That is stealing from others for one’s own benefit. We see this in the Fed’s printing of money inflating it for us later after they spend the monies on programs that benefit different members of congress. This also happens with our Catholic Schools when we provide that wonderful Catholic Education, but build up debt that rest on others. This is done of course, all in the name of “Charity.” However, honest charity requires honest money and creates a challenge of too many social programs. All kinds of initiatives want money to “make a difference.” But what if the money isn’t there? Are we willing to live with-in our means; to work quietly and eat our own food?
To keep Charity honest, every member of a charitable group must work hard and give of themselves in toil and self-sacrifice for the good of all. Each member needs to contribute what they can with no one taking advantage of others. Implementing this is the challenge. Doing so requires us to challenge those who are taking a free ride, while at the same time being willing to make the true self-sacrifices needed to give to those in need. Charity then, needs to enable people’s growth, not enable an entitlement that really isn’t an entitlement. The challenge for us is to love others as Christ, and at the same time live with financial and moral integrity. May the Lord grant us the humility needed to be charitable, and to have the honesty to discern what love requires in our giving and receiving.