In Vatican II the church instructed Christians to remember God’s Saying, ‘feed the man dying of hunger, for if you do not feed him, you are killing him’. This statement encourages Christians to help the problem of hunger because if they are not part of the solution they are part of the problem.
There where three points set out by Pope Paul VI by which Christians can help alleviate the problems of poverty. He said that Christians let social justice be real in their hearts. He said that their consciences must be awakened to the principles of justice and take a stand against unjust institutions and structures. He also said that Christians must not be carried away seeking material possessions and try to follow the gospel principle of simplicity. Finally he said that Christians must share goods and not keep selfishly what they don’t need. In the parable of the rich man Jesus says, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God’.
There are many ways in the scriptures in which Jesus tells and shows us by example that we should give to the poor. One way in which he shows us is in the parable of the feeding of the 5000 is the attitude of Jesus in giving assistance and fullness of live to those who need it. In Luke 4:18 it says:
The spirit of the lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.
The most famous and well know story from the scriptures in relation to giving to the poor is the story of the sheep and the goats. This story talks about two different types of people those who feed Jesus when he was hungry; give him water when he was thirsty; invite him in when he was a stranger; clothe him when he was naked or look after him when he was sick and in prison and those who did nothing for Jesus. When the people wondered when they had seen Jesus in such a condition and did not help Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for the least of my brothers, you did not do for me.’
Tobit 4:7-9 insists that we should show our support to people who are faithful and obey God by giving generously to them. Tobit tells us that if we don’t give to the poor God will not give to us. Through this we should see that the more we have the more we should give and iif we give to the needy we will be rewarded in our times of trouble.
A disciple is one who learns or follows. As Catholics we follow Jesus’ example and follow teaching in the scriptures and the traditions passed down in the church from the early fathers to the present day bishops. We accept the authority of the bishop of Rome, the Pope. We accept that his authority has been passed down form Peter when Christ said to him “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church”.
As James 2:14- 18 states that faith without good work is not enough. If we have faith in Jesus we must make some effort to listen to the voices of the poor, pray and perform practical works of charity. An example of this is the St. Vincent de Paul society. In our school the Lenten hamper appeal is another example of charity in action.
The churches love for the poor is part of a constant tradition. This love is inspired by Jesus’ concern for the poor which is in reflected in many things for example the beatitudes when Jesus shows that a person can be poor in many ways such as a person may be poor which may mean they don’t have much personal possessions or money or a person can be poor in spirit which means that they have generally been a bad person.
Catholics have a responsibility to support catholic and Christian charities and have to support all people in need. We should obtain our motivation from God. When we follow Jesus’ commands we are ensured that we have his support “I am with you always to the very end of time”.
Works of charity and kindness given to people in need reflect just where people stand in relation to the kingdom of God, and to Jesus himself.
