We were taught when we
went to Sunday School or parochial school or maybe even sitting on our mother’s
or grandmother’s lap that one of our responsibilities as a Christian was to
help those who were in need. Our teachers helped us understand what being in need
really meant because we never needed anything. We were very blessed even if we
did not know it t that time.
Oh, there were lots of
things we wanted, that is true. And so or teachers first had to help us
understand the difference between wants and needs. The truth, of course, is
that we are still learning that difference even in our older ages. We still
struggle within ourselves fighting over if what we desire is truly a need or
simple a want that we can do without and know we can do without. It is a
life-long struggle that even the most sainted deal with until the last breath.
Being blessed as we
were, and still are, we have to imagine what it must be like to be in need even
if only to understand what Jesus was talking about when he commanded us to take
care of the needs of those who are less blessed than we are. And those needs
and the people in need are many and simply overwhelming. Yet, even if our own
response to those in need barely makes a dent in relieving the suffering of
others, we still must do what we can. As a Christian, we have no choice, do we?
The greatest need that
anyone has, rich or poor, is to be fed, to have enough food simply to live from
one day to the next. Personally, I do not know what that is like. Even when I have
been on countless diets and think I am starving to death, I not only have
enough to eat, I have more to eat in one day than millions of people around the
world have to eat in a week. I cannot imagine what that must be like.
But I have to; we have
to. That is our Christian responsibility and one of the corporeal works of
mercy Jesus preached about and responded to. He fed the people with real food
when he could and fed them with spiritual food when that is what they needed.
For people, all people, you and I, need to be fed spiritually as well as
physically. But we cannot be fed spiritually if our stomachs are empty.
My suspicion is that
the reason Christianity has not succeeded in winning the world over is that we
Christians spend an inordinate time preaching the Gospel, even tending to
spiritual works of mercy, while neglecting to take care of the corporeal needs
of the people. Our Gospel has been rejected by those who see us living in
prosperity, having more than we need, wasting what we have, while doing relatively
little to take care of their needs by sharing what we have in abundance.
The Gospel message,
even if it is a bumper-sticker one, reminds us to “Live Simply so that Others
May Simply Live”. That is a difficult message to hear and an even more difficult
to live out. But it is the basic message of the Gospel and the basis for truly
living out our faith. So how are we, how am I, responding?
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