Catholic Charities

I attended a meeting today of a group trying to bring Catholic Charities to my area. The group was men and women from the different Catholic Churches. They are leaders in charitable works and the love ministries to the less fortunate in the community. All are people who want to help. They come bringing their love and the love of the people in the churches they represent. 

“What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.” – St. Augustine

There are many types of love. One of the basic types of love is described by St. Augustine. It is the respect and caring that we feel towards another person. This is what we as Christians call brotherly love or charity. Sometimes people forget that outside of love of family, this is the most basic love that exists. Love makes us social creatures. Love pulls people together into groups. This bond has always been there in society. It is the source of empathy and sympathy that we have for those around us.

Empathy is the ability to experience the hurt, brokenness, despair, and so many other feelings that humanity experiences. This comes from the fact that no matter how small or great we are we have probably lived through the same experience. We are all created by the same God. We all live in a shared world. No matter what your nationality, we all grieve, we all hurt, we all experience disappointment. Love for others can only exist in the kindness, empathy, and understanding we have for others. We seek justice and dignity for the love of other people because of empathy.

Sympathy is the ability to feel sorrow and pity for others misfortunes. These are actually for the times when we do not have the experiences of others. Maybe we have been fortunate in our lives and cannot know the misfortune of poverty.  But sympathy is the feelings that pull those who are not alike together. We are not like kings who have never seen poverty, sickness, old age, or death. But the suffering that comes with these can make us feel compassion and respect for those less fortunate than us. In sympathy we also find love. 

Empathy and sympathy can bring us to a connection with other people. It allows us to see that each of us has a vulnerability to the world. When we recognized the common vulnerability this is where love grows.   

Jn 14:12 “Amen, Amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these. . .”

Jesus Christ is where we find the strength to defend against our vulnerability. Christ living in us, allows us to be a continuation of his miracles in the world. Miracles found in his love. This love inspires faith and asks us to do great works in the world in his name. It is the empathy we feel for having been in need of miracles and the sympathy for those less fortunate that allows us to love. The love we find in Christ asks us to be his hands, to be his feet, to be his heart, and to be his love in the world.

This is Catholic Charities and what they bring is Christ's work to help rebuild lives.  Doing the work Jesus asked each of us to continue.  When asked if the area would support another social agency, one person attending said that this area had an undeveloped philanthropic resource.  I do not know about the philanthropic resource; but, I do know we have a large resource of Christ's love.

Prayer: 

Lord Jesus

I believe in you with my whole self,
allow me to do your works.

Let my feet be your feet,

let my hands be your hands,

let my heart be your heart,

let my love be your love, and

allow me to see you in those in need,
allow others to see you in me.

Amen