886- What is the true meaning of the word charity as Jesus understood it?
“Benevolence toward everyone, indulgence toward the imperfections of others and forgiveness for offenses.”
Love and charity supplement the law of justice because loving our neighbors is to do them all the good possible, all that we would wish to be done to ourselves. Such is the meaning of Jesus’ words: “Love one another as brothers.”
Charity, according to Jesus, is not restricted to alms-giving, but embraces all our relations with our fellow humans, whether in situations below, equal or superior to our own. It orders us to be indulgent because we need indulgence ourselves, and it forbids us to humiliate the unfortunate, contrary to what is commonly practiced. Whenever wealthy persons seek us out, we regard them with an overabundance of consideration and attention, but whenever poor persons seek us out, it seems like we do not want to be troubled by them. However, the more pitiable the situation of the latter, the more we should refrain from increasing their disgrace through humiliation. Those who are truly charitable seek to uplift the self-esteem of those in lower positions, thereby diminishing the distance between both.
887- Jesus also taught: “Love even your enemies.” But isn’t loving our enemies contrary to our natural tendencies, and doesn’t enmity proceed from a lack of sympathy between spirits?
“It is obviously not possible to show tender and passionate love toward one’s enemies, and that is not what Jesus wanted to say. Loving one’s enemies means to forgive them and to return good for their evil. That is how we put ourselves above them; by seeking vengeance, we only place ourselves beneath them.”
888- What is to be thought of alms-giving?
“Those who are reduced to begging for alms morally and physically degrade themselves in an existence that puts them on the level of the brute. A society based on the law of God and justice should provide for the life of the weak without humiliating them. It should ensure an existence for those who cannot work, without leaving them at the mercy of chance and goodwill.”
– Then do you condemn alms-giving?
“No, because it is not the alms-giving per se that is reprehensible, but almost always the way in which it is done. Moral individuals, those who understand charity according to Jesus, seek out the unfortunate without waiting for them to hold out their hand.
“True charity is always good and benevolent; it is demonstrated both in the act itself and in the way it is done. A service rendered with graciousness thus has a double value; but if it is rendered with haughtiness, the recipient’s need compels him or her to accept it but his or her heart will hardly be touched.
“Also, remember that in God’s sight ostentation erases the merit of benevolence. Jesus said: ‘Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’ Therein, he teaches you not to tarnish charity with pride.
“It is necessary to distinguish between alms-giving per se and benevolence. The one who is most needy is not always the one who begs; the fear of humiliation restrains the truly poor, who almost always suffer without complaining. It is these whom the authentically humane person knows how to help without being ostentatious.
“Love one another – that is the whole law, the divine law through which God governs the worlds. Love is the law of attraction for living and organized beings, and attraction is the law of love for inorganic matter.
“Never forget that a spirit, whatever its degree of advancement or its situation as an incarnate individual or as a discarnate spirit, is always placed between a more evolved spirit who guides and perfects it, and a less evolved one toward whom it has the same duties to fulfill. Therefore, be charitable not only by taking from your bag a coin that you callously give to the one who dares to beg from you, but by seeking out hidden poverty. Be indulgent toward the errors of your neighbor. Instead of despising the ignorant and the addict, educate and moralize them. Be gentle and benevolent toward all those who are less evolved than you.
Be the same toward the lowermost beings of creation, and you will have obeyed the law of God.”
SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL
889- Aren’t there those who are reduced to begging through their own fault?
“Of course. But if a good moral education had taught them the law of God, they would not have fallen into the excesses that led them into ruin. It is upon this, above all, that the improvement of your globe depends.” (See no. 707)
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