How Catholics Lead the Way in Helping Others
Catholics have always led the way in helping those in need. Last time we talked a bit about our obligations to help. Now let's look at this from a wider perspective and understand why it's an obligation.
The early Church appointed deacons to help widows. To be a widow in the first century AD - and for many centuries thereafter - was particularly difficult. Unless you had family help, or remarried quickly, you would have great difficulty providing for your children if your husband died. The Church recognized this. So one of the specific roles assigned to deacons was to help widows.
Besides collecting money for the poor from its congregations, the Catholic Church led the way in eventually creating and developing hospitals. Read your history and you'll find that, until fairly recently, hospital care, as we now know it, originated from the efforts of priests and nuns who attended to sick people. They understood the importance of meeting their physical needs even as they addressed their spiritual needs. They understood this because the Church has always understood and always taught that we are made of body and soul, flesh and spirit. For as long as we live on this earth, the care of our bodies must be one our primary duties. The Church calls the body the "temple of the Holy Spirit." No other religion or spiritual teaching understands the importance of the body as well as Holy Mother Church.
And so it should be no surprise that we Catholics who work should be obligated to reserve some of our earnings to help those in need. Of course, if you are a Catholic man with a family and you're barely earning enough to get by, you have to be prudent in giving money to others. But if you're at all beyond the bare subsistence level, you need to critically look at just how much you can set aside to provide for the needs of others.
Of course, the people whose needs you address might very well be people you know. I'm not just saying that you should give money to "official" charities.
If you do give to charities, as I mentioned last time, it behooves you to investigate how your money will be spent. A company I once worked for had an annual drive for the United Way. A lot of pressure was put on every employee to contribute something so that the company could be the "#1" United Way contributor in the country. After a couple of years of giving, I realized that this organization supported activities of groups like Planned Parenthood (at least it did at that time). When I objected, they told me they would direct my contribution to a charity of my choice. I took advantage of that alternative.
Finally, if you make a lot of money, here's something to consider: not only should you contribute generously, but part of the reason you should continue in your lucrative occupation is not so that you can become rich, but specifically so that you can continue to contribute to helping others. I'm not saying you should never retire, or work until you drop dead. But if you have the choice, you should continue to earn your handsome salary so that you can continue to help others.
(Be prudent, of course. If you can make more time for your family by not working so many hours, that's a fair trade off. But if you simply want more time for yourself, I don't think that's a fair or just trade off. Remember, we're obligated to help others.)
So, again (as I mentioned last time), there's so much we as individual Catholic men can do right now, in our own lives just as they are, to help others, we don't really have to spend inordinate amounts of time debating which political party helps the poor more, or the best role of the government. Alternately, if you want to study Catholic social teaching, to better understand our obligation to help others, by all means do. (I do.) Just don't let it distract you from taking action to help others by simply sacrificing a portion of what you earn.
Oh, and try to be as generous as you can, OK? Just remember that it's really not an option for us Catholic men at work to contribute to the assistance of those in need.
The early Church appointed deacons to help widows. To be a widow in the first century AD - and for many centuries thereafter - was particularly difficult. Unless you had family help, or remarried quickly, you would have great difficulty providing for your children if your husband died. The Church recognized this. So one of the specific roles assigned to deacons was to help widows.
Besides collecting money for the poor from its congregations, the Catholic Church led the way in eventually creating and developing hospitals. Read your history and you'll find that, until fairly recently, hospital care, as we now know it, originated from the efforts of priests and nuns who attended to sick people. They understood the importance of meeting their physical needs even as they addressed their spiritual needs. They understood this because the Church has always understood and always taught that we are made of body and soul, flesh and spirit. For as long as we live on this earth, the care of our bodies must be one our primary duties. The Church calls the body the "temple of the Holy Spirit." No other religion or spiritual teaching understands the importance of the body as well as Holy Mother Church.
And so it should be no surprise that we Catholics who work should be obligated to reserve some of our earnings to help those in need. Of course, if you are a Catholic man with a family and you're barely earning enough to get by, you have to be prudent in giving money to others. But if you're at all beyond the bare subsistence level, you need to critically look at just how much you can set aside to provide for the needs of others.
Of course, the people whose needs you address might very well be people you know. I'm not just saying that you should give money to "official" charities.
If you do give to charities, as I mentioned last time, it behooves you to investigate how your money will be spent. A company I once worked for had an annual drive for the United Way. A lot of pressure was put on every employee to contribute something so that the company could be the "#1" United Way contributor in the country. After a couple of years of giving, I realized that this organization supported activities of groups like Planned Parenthood (at least it did at that time). When I objected, they told me they would direct my contribution to a charity of my choice. I took advantage of that alternative.
Finally, if you make a lot of money, here's something to consider: not only should you contribute generously, but part of the reason you should continue in your lucrative occupation is not so that you can become rich, but specifically so that you can continue to contribute to helping others. I'm not saying you should never retire, or work until you drop dead. But if you have the choice, you should continue to earn your handsome salary so that you can continue to help others.
(Be prudent, of course. If you can make more time for your family by not working so many hours, that's a fair trade off. But if you simply want more time for yourself, I don't think that's a fair or just trade off. Remember, we're obligated to help others.)
So, again (as I mentioned last time), there's so much we as individual Catholic men can do right now, in our own lives just as they are, to help others, we don't really have to spend inordinate amounts of time debating which political party helps the poor more, or the best role of the government. Alternately, if you want to study Catholic social teaching, to better understand our obligation to help others, by all means do. (I do.) Just don't let it distract you from taking action to help others by simply sacrificing a portion of what you earn.
Oh, and try to be as generous as you can, OK? Just remember that it's really not an option for us Catholic men at work to contribute to the assistance of those in need.
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