20190619
MOTIVATION
FOR DOING WORKS OF CHARITY
19 JUNE, 2019,
Wednesday, 11th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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2 Corinthians 9:6-11 ©
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There is no limit to the blessings which
God can send you
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Do not forget: thin sowing means thin
reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what he has
decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God
loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings which
God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all you
need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to
spare for all sorts of good works. As scripture says: He was free in
almsgiving, and gave to the poor: his good deeds will never be forgotten.
The
one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide you with
all the seed you want and make the harvest of your good deeds a larger one,
and, made richer in every way, you will be able to do all the generous things
which, through us, are the cause of thanksgiving to God.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 111(112):1-4,9 ©
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Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Happy the man who fears the Lord,
who takes delight in all his
commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright
are blessed.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm for
ever.
He is a light in the darkness for the
upright:
he is generous, merciful and
just.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Open-handed, he gives to the poor;
his justice stands firm for
ever.
His head will be raised in
glory.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Col3:16a,17
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Let the message of Christ, in all its
richness,
find a home with you;
through him give thanks to God the Father.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Jn14:23
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Alleluia, alleluia!
If anyone loves me he will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we shall come to him.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 6:1-6,16-18 ©
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Your Father who sees all that is done in
secret will reward you
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Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be careful
not to parade your good deeds before men to attract their notice; by doing this
you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do
not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the
synagogues and in the streets to win men’s admiration. I tell you solemnly,
they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not
know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father
who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.
‘And
when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers
standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them;
I tell you solemnly, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your
private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in
that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will
reward you.
‘When
you fast do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they pull long faces
to let men know they are fasting. I tell you solemnly, they have had their
reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that no
one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in
secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.’
MOTIVATION FOR
DOING WORKS OF CHARITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 2 COR 9:6-11;
MT 6:1-6. 16-18]
As Christians, we all know that works of
charity are an essential component of our faith. As St James tells us,
“Faith without good works is dead.” (cf James 2:14-18) Yet, it is not enough
that we do good works. We must examine the motives for doing good
works, as this will determine how we go about being involved in
charity work. It is not sufficient that we help the poor, but it is
important for us to understand why we do it because the whys determine the goal
of charity, both with respect to the one who gives and the one who receives our
generosity.
Indeed, this is the
intent of Jesus’ teaching on doing everything in secret. It does not
really mean that we do everything in secret, for if that were so, there will be
no bible or biographies of saints written. For earlier on in the same
Sermon on the Mount, He said we must do good works and so give glory to the
Father. So it is a question of motive rather than whether we do it
publicly or secretly. It is a question of whether we are drawing attention
to ourselves or truly giving glory to God and for love of our fellowmen.
So what is the
motivation for doing charity work? There are those who give alms for the
sake of ostentatiousness.
They like to put up a big show; to be known for their generosity and as philanthropists.
Such people are deeply insecure, for it is certainly both psychologically and
spiritually unhealthy if one needs to be seen and praised for what one
does. It means that such actions do not originate from a person’s inner
convictions. Such a person does not have a center and will eventually
destroy himself because he is always worried about public opinion. He is
under the control of people’s expectations. He is never sure of
himself. He loses focus and is a prisoner of his low self-esteem.
Then there are those who perform charity work
out of condescension. They think too highly of themselves. They
have no real compassion for the poor. They have a superiority complex,
much like the Pharisees and the Scribes that Jesus condemned in the gospel.
They despise others. The charity they give only makes the recipients feel
worse and humiliated. Instead of helping them to regain their dignity, we
rob them of the little dignity they have left. No one likes to feel as if
he or she is a beggar. Even a beggar has his dignity. True charity
does not make the recipient feel worse about himself, but feel loved and
accepted for the condition he or she is in. It is not about sympathy but
empathy.
Then there are those who give to charity as a
form of investment, whether material or spiritual. Again, the focus
is on themselves primarily; not on God or the poor. The more worldly ones
use the poor as a kind of investment for they believe that the more they give
to the poor, the more they will receive in return. It is based on the
prosperity gospel which preaches that since God cannot be outdone in
generosity, they should give, expecting to receive double or even more.
This seems to be the motive suggested by St Paul in the first reading. He
wrote, “Do not forget: thin sowing means thin reaping; the more you sow, the
more you reap.” He added, “And there is no limit to the blessings which
God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all you need for
yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to spare
for all sorts of good works.” What St Paul says, of course, is true, but
not in the worldly sense of seeking to make good our investments. Such
ulterior and selfish motive for giving is not what St Paul is encouraging.
Rather, he was speaking about the need to trust in divine providence and that
the blessings that God gives are more than just material gains but the joys of
love, faith, friends and meaning.
Then there are those who
do charity because of pressure, guilt, fear and punishment. They give reluctantly. St Paul speaks of
the necessity of being a cheerful giver: “Each one should give what he has
decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to, for God loves
a cheerful giver.” If one is motivated by guilt, as many do, especially
those who have so much money and the things of this earth but splurge all on
themselves, then they give not out of compassion for the poor or because they
see God’s face in them but rather, they do so to soothe their guilt and
conscience. They are also afraid that if they do not share their
resources with others, bad karma will fall upon them, either on this earth or
they will be punished in the next life. Hence, charity is squeezed out of
them.
Finally, some are
motivated by ideology and particularly with a political agenda. Their works of charity are basically
coming from a humanitarian motive. Most of the time, it is rooted in
their compassion for the poor and the suffering. Unfortunately, in the
face of apparent failure in rectifying the situation, they become resentful of
the injustices of the institutions. In their anger at the injustices of
the world, they champion certain ideological doctrines that prescribe how
justice should be carried out. At times, they adopt Marxist approaches to
justice and promote materialism and even communism. Many use money and
aid to gain economic and political powers so that they can use them to achieve
their own goals. It is ultimately for their interests but under the
pretext of charity.
Against such imperfect motives in charity, the
scripture readings today provide us the Christian motives for
giving. Christian giving must be based on faith alone.
Firstly, giving is based
on the fact that God loves us. We are grateful to God for blessing us and because God
loves us. In turn, we too want to love others as well and share His
blessings with others. So for a Christian, giving is done out of pure
gratitude to His love. It is a doing primarily for God and not for show
or for attention. There is no need to, as God has given us all the
attention by providing us our needs. We are already loved by Him and so
we do not need to seek the love of the world. Hence, we do not take pride
in our generosity but rather we want to boast of God’s goodness to us.
Secondly, it comes from our identification
with our poor brothers and sisters. This identification comes firstly
from our recognition that we are all brothers and sisters because we have a
common Father. As His sons and daughters, and we as brothers and sisters,
we want to care for each other as the Father cares for us. That is why
today’s gospel is followed by the teaching of the Lord’s Prayer. If we
dare to call God our Father, we must acknowledge that we are all brothers and
sisters. And if God the Father loves them, we must also love them, for
that is the way we show our love for God. As the Fathers of the Church
taught, even what we rightly possess belongs to our brothers and sisters and are
not ours to keep.
To accentuate our solidarity with our
brothers and sisters, the Lord encourages us to fast. The Lord
invites us to fast so that we can feel with the poor. Quite often,
many of us cannot feel with the poor even though we give to them because we have
not experienced their sufferings, anxieties and fears. Unless we are poor
ourselves, we cannot truly feel with them and for them. Hence, even when
helping the poor, we do not really identify with them. Sometimes, those
who help the poor do it perfunctorily, as if it is a duty and task, without
feelings. For this reason, it is not enough to be the Church for the poor, but
we must be the Church of the poor. Unless, we know poverty, we cannot
enrich others and identify with them. Only those who have suffered can
truly help those in pain and suffering.
Thirdly, we want to give them Jesus. This
must be the real reason for giving and helping. We need to let them know that
Jesus loves them. By our works of charity, we are not simply offering
material help but more importantly, through our tangible love, we want to
assure them that God loves them still, even in their poverty and
suffering. At the end of the day, no amount of material help can ever
satisfy a person’s heart. Only God can fill the emptiness of our
lives. We need love, security, peace and joy. So the ultimate
purpose of giving is to give them Jesus, seen in and through us.
When we give from such
motives, what would be our reward? We receive a greater joy and meaning in life
that the world cannot give. The blessings we seek are not of this
world but the joys of the kingdom of God which come from love, unity and
selfless service. There is nothing that this world can give in exchange
for a deeper relationship with the Lord. This is what gives us the
greatest joy.
The paradox of giving is that the more you give, the more the
Lord gives you the capacity to give. The more you give, the more
liberated you are. And as you liberate yourself, you liberate those whom
you serve. The more you forget yourself in the service of others as Jesus
tells us in the gospel, the more you find yourself. It is for this reason
that the secret to happiness is to do everything in secret; that is, focused
not on self but on others. Hence, Jesus’ advice is this, “your Father who
sees all that is done in secret will reward you.” By so doing, we
preserve our own dignity and also the dignity of those we serve. There is
more joy when we give spontaneously and selflessly without thinking of
ourselves than worrying about what others think about us.
Indeed, contemplating on Jesus who
gave Himself totally to us is the key to truly giving ourselves selflessly to
others. Only in Him alone can we find the strength to give and to
empty ourselves. A social worker who fails to contemplate on the face of
the crucified and risen Christ will end up in frustration and despair when he
realizes that he cannot solve all the material problems and eradicate poverty
completely from this world. A man of faith sees Christ the Suffering One
in his fellowmen and in his service, believing that Christ the Risen Lord will
fill the suffering with peace, love and joy even in suffering. The Risen
Christ gives us hope that God will remove all suffering and pain in the world
to come.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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