GIVE, AND BE SAVED: SUPPORT CATHOLIC CHARITIES

In his teaching on the Final Judgment Jesus presents a picture of humanity lined up on his right side and on his left. To those on the right he says, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” To those on his left he says, “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels… For I was hungry, and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink…Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for these least ones, you did not do for me.”

Every Catholic should be familiar with Chapter 25 of the Gospel of Matthew. Living up to what it teaches is a matter of eternal salvation. The apostle James speaks along the same lines when he writes, “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” We are saved by grace through faith. A dead faith cannot save us. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should live in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Belief and trust in God must be joined to good works. We cannot buy our salvation, but we can lose it by neglecting to do our part in helping the poor.

There are many ways in which we can help the poor. According to Matthew 25, some of these involve material assistance: giving food, clothing, and drink. Spiritual assistance is equally as important: caring for the sick and visiting those in prison. All those things which we have an opportunity to do have been “prepared in advance” for us by God. In terms of material assistance, God has given us the means to gain it, as St. Paul tells the elders of the church of Ephesus in his farewell speech to them: “You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:34-35). St. Paul teaches that God also gives us the means to help people spiritually: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our every affliction, so that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

One of the ways we can offer assistance to the poor, both materially and spiritually, is by donating to the Catholic Charities Appeal. Our donations provide material help, such as food, through Nutritional Development Services, and shelter, through St. John’s Hospice and the Visitation Homes; and spiritual help through assistance to Newman Centers on college campuses and to poor inner city parishes. These are just a few of the ministries which are beneficiaries of Catholic Charities. For more information and to donate, go to: https://www.catholiccharitiesappeal.org/.

By pooling our resources together through Catholic Charities we do so much more good than we could do as individuals, and we give effective witness to the Church’s love for the poor and her desire for the well-being of persons of every class, race, language and age. Information on Catholic Charities, which kicks off its annual appeal this weekend, will be distributed in the church, and you may receive a mailing directly from the Catholic Foundation of Greater Philadelphia, which organizes the appeal. Thank you for giving to Jesus!