Why We Work for "Stuff": A Catholic View of Private Property - Part 3

Last time we noted that the Church's teaching regarding our obligation to those in need has its roots in Sacred Scripture, extending back in time through the Old Testament. Let's take a look at that today. It's important because we'll see that what Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski teaches us in Working Your Way into Heaven is by no means only the opinion of a holy and wise, now-deceased cleric. These teachings encompass not only the teachings of Christ, but the consistent and inspired message of the Holy Spirit throughout Sacred Scripture. In short, "charity" did not begin with Jesus Christ. The God we see in the Old Testament, despite his sometimes fearsome rumblings of displeasure when His chosen people were unfaithful, was and is a loving God. We, His creatures, inspired by His Holy Spirit, encouraged and strengthened by His grace, transmit that charity to each other.

So when we read in Working Your Way into Heaven... 

We should work eagerly and zealously so that we may be better able to help the needy. We should take on ourselves work, effort, and toil so that we have something to give to the poor.

...we're not reading something that Cardinal Wyszynski offers us based on what he thinks we ought to do. Instead, as Wyszynski explains, we find that...

The principle of the common usage of goods and of work for the benefit of our neighbors is not new, as many passages of Holy Scripture show. 

For example, we find the following passage in Job, the Book about that poor man who suffered incredible sorrow and suffering at the hands of the devil who desperately tried to turn him against God. Here Job seeks to show his Lord that he has always been faithful to his obligation to help the needy. Notice the generous extent of his charity:

If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have made the eyes of the widow wait, if I have eaten my morsel alone and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof (for from my infancy mercy grew up with me and it came out with me from my mother's womb), if I have despised him that was perishing for want of clothing and the poor man that had no covering, if his sides have not blessed me and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep...let my shoulder fall from its joint. (Job 31: 16-22)

A pretty graphic image, don't you think: "let my shoulder fall from its joint"? Remember, Job is talking to God. He knows he can't fool the Creator of the Universe. So every word out of his  mouth is deadly serious. His words must be taken literally. They're not a poetic expression of charitable intent; rather they prove actual deeds done on behalf of those in need. We see how seriously Job understood the idea of helping those in need. And remember, he's not asking for any special award or other consideration here. He's acknowledging his obligation and stating that he did what he knew he ought to do. Further, we must understand that his words express that which everyone accepted as their responsibility. The produce of their labor was not intended only for themselves. In this our "Year of Mercy," we find Job's reference even more poignant and powerful, especially when he says, "for from my infancy mercy grew up with me and it came out with me from my mother's womb..."

Cardinal Wyszynski cites another example from the Old Testament:

Tobias the elder, when giving advice on life to his son, tells him clearly, "Eat they bread with the hungry and the needy, and with thy garments cover the naked." This, as it were, preparing the way for Christ's counsel: "The man who has two coats must share with the man who has none; and the man who has food to eat must do the life."

And then summarizes his general message:

The spirit of almsgiving is stressed on every page of Sacred Scripture and reaches its highest point in the description - so characteristically treated - of the Last Judgment, where material services, performed out of love for God, are finally seen at their true value.

It behooves us now to look at ourselves today, especially when we're at work, most especially in those moments when the burden of especially difficult or demanding work calls forth our most strenuous efforts: Does the thought of others ever cross our minds at such moments? Or do we think only either of how hard a time we're having, or how much we hope our efforts result in greater rewards for us. Are we turned in on ourselves as we work, or do we look outside ourselves and consider how the fruits of our labor may in some way assist those around us who struggle and need our help?

Just something to consider in light of what we've been learning.