I CORINTHIANS 13:13

Now that you’ve had to look up the citation of this title (which will be no surprise to you!), I’m sure you’re thinking that this essay is all about Catholic Charities. In a way it is, but in a way perhaps more important it isn’t.

While walking down to San Damiano for Evening Prayer and Adoration this evening (Friday, 13 January), I saw a sign posted by the friars—a simple scrawl on a weathered piece of wood: “AMA E SARAI FELICE” (“Love and you will be happy”). We know from experience that it’s not quite that simple, and yet in some ways it is. It all depends on what we mean by love. Jesus had a few things to say about this, as did the other writers of the New Testament.

We can start with the text that was the basis for the hymn during Adoration this evening—the Good Samaritan. Love in this case had nothing to do with feelings (the Jew probably didn’t want a Samaritan to help him; the Samaritan probably didn’t have warm feelings for the Jews). But he chose to act—and this is the core of true love.

This is brought into even greater relief, greater clarity, with the parable of the sheep and the goats—“Whatever you did/didn’t do, you did/didn’t do to me.” And we know all the actions were actions of service to those in need or want. Jesus is pretty clear about this: judgment will be based on behavior, as Matthew 16:27 tells us (among other places).

The Letter of James (belittled by Luther) is not the only place, then, where “works” are required along with “faith” (James 2:14ff). I John (3:18) reminds us we must love “not (only) in word or speech but in deed and truth. Jumping into the 16th century, St John of the Cross affirmed that at our judgment there will be one criterion: did you love?

Love, then, means giving of self for the sake of others. Catholic Charities is a part of this, but only a part. This is where the goodness of the people of Our Savior really shines out. Consider the gifts we have made at the end of the year to so many worthy causes—thanks to you. Consider the food items for our Advent drive that have filled not only our food pantry but that of Prince of Peace, as well. Consider the gifts brought for those incarcerated or newly released, to help them avoid returning to jail. Consider the gifts brought for those in our parish who are homebound or in nursing homes. And yes, consider the generosity we show in the Catholic Charities campaign. It is all about love in action, and it goes far beyond a couple of weeks of “begging” during January. It is, finally, about discipleship. It is about seeing Christ in the poor and suffering, and doing something about it. It is about doing without, especially during Lent, so that through our Rice Bowl we can touch the lives of suffering members of the Body of Christ in other places in the world. It is about the extraordinary special collection we took up last year for the people of Ukraine, or for the relief of the victims of the flooding in eastern Kentucky, or the tornadoes in Louisiana. It is love in deed and truth, not simply in word or speech. It is, to quote St Paul, faith working in love (Galatians 5:6). Thank you for your active faith! -Fr. David