‘God loves a Cheerful Giver’ (2 Cor. 9:7).
THERE was this story of a rich man who had always desired to have a personal encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ. The man was very dedicated to Church activities and always eager to share the gospel with others. He fasted often and always tried to keep to the Ten Commandments as laid down through Moses.
One day, while waiting on the Lord, he received a divine message that Jesus would be visiting him at home on a certain day and time. The man was very excited. It was an answer to the prayer he had been praying for a long time. He began to prepare for the Lord’s coming and cleaned his house to give it a new and more appealing look. On the appointed day, a haggard looking beggar approached his house, begging for alms. The rich man drove him away. ‘Please leave my house before you contaminate it with your filth. Do you not know that Christ, himself, would be visiting me today?’
For the rest of that day, the rich man waited in vain for Jesus to come. Much later, he began to feel dejected and enquired while the Lord never showed up. ‘But I did come, Jesus said to him, ‘I took the form of that wretched beggar, who came begging for alms. You threw me out.’ ‘But I never knew it was you,’ cried the man, horrified at the news that he had closed his door on his saviour. ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brother that you do unto me’ Jesus said to him.
Many of us are like the rich man stated above. We earnestly want to have a personal encounter with God, but fail to realize that God rarely come to meet us in His full majesty and glory. Rather, He comes to us daily in the guise of our fellow men and women in need; in the shape of our neighbour, who can barely feed his family; in the guise of that wretched beggar looking for crumbs from our dining table. He seeks to reach us in the form of a hopeless widow looking for a miserly sum to kick-start a petty trade. We should ask ourselves: how well have we welcomed God into our lives and homes? Have we ever welcomed Him at all?
This is where charity comes in. In its simplest form, charity means sharing with others, to alleviate their pains and sufferings. It entails opening wide our arms of hospitality to those who may need our help at all times.
There are, specifically, seven corporal works of charity listed by the Church. This includes: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to befriend the homeless, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to console the captive, to bury the dead. When we do all these, with sincerity of purpose, we invite the favour of God in our lives. We must note that when we render charitable actions, our purpose must be genuine and not borne out of ulterior motives. For instance, when we want to help someone in need, we must do so cheerfully and out of fraternal love. It must be done in such a manner that the person we are helping would not feel insulted or belittled. We must also give with caution, for there are many who pretend to be in need when in actual fact they are merely being lazy. Prudence should be the watchword.
Very Rev. Msgr. Osu, Director, Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos
THERE was this story of a rich man who had always desired to have a personal encounter with our Lord Jesus Christ. The man was very dedicated to Church activities and always eager to share the gospel with others. He fasted often and always tried to keep to the Ten Commandments as laid down through Moses.
One day, while waiting on the Lord, he received a divine message that Jesus would be visiting him at home on a certain day and time. The man was very excited. It was an answer to the prayer he had been praying for a long time. He began to prepare for the Lord’s coming and cleaned his house to give it a new and more appealing look. On the appointed day, a haggard looking beggar approached his house, begging for alms. The rich man drove him away. ‘Please leave my house before you contaminate it with your filth. Do you not know that Christ, himself, would be visiting me today?’
For the rest of that day, the rich man waited in vain for Jesus to come. Much later, he began to feel dejected and enquired while the Lord never showed up. ‘But I did come, Jesus said to him, ‘I took the form of that wretched beggar, who came begging for alms. You threw me out.’ ‘But I never knew it was you,’ cried the man, horrified at the news that he had closed his door on his saviour. ‘Whatever you do to the least of my brother that you do unto me’ Jesus said to him.
Many of us are like the rich man stated above. We earnestly want to have a personal encounter with God, but fail to realize that God rarely come to meet us in His full majesty and glory. Rather, He comes to us daily in the guise of our fellow men and women in need; in the shape of our neighbour, who can barely feed his family; in the guise of that wretched beggar looking for crumbs from our dining table. He seeks to reach us in the form of a hopeless widow looking for a miserly sum to kick-start a petty trade. We should ask ourselves: how well have we welcomed God into our lives and homes? Have we ever welcomed Him at all?
This is where charity comes in. In its simplest form, charity means sharing with others, to alleviate their pains and sufferings. It entails opening wide our arms of hospitality to those who may need our help at all times.
There are, specifically, seven corporal works of charity listed by the Church. This includes: to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to befriend the homeless, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to console the captive, to bury the dead. When we do all these, with sincerity of purpose, we invite the favour of God in our lives. We must note that when we render charitable actions, our purpose must be genuine and not borne out of ulterior motives. For instance, when we want to help someone in need, we must do so cheerfully and out of fraternal love. It must be done in such a manner that the person we are helping would not feel insulted or belittled. We must also give with caution, for there are many who pretend to be in need when in actual fact they are merely being lazy. Prudence should be the watchword.
Very Rev. Msgr. Osu, Director, Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos
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