It's never too early...
...to start thinking about Lent. I think this is a good meditation on giving being more valuable than "giving up" for Lent.
LENT 2003: "IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE"
VATICAN CITY, FEB 6, 2003 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's Message for Lent 2003, on
the theme "It is more blessed to give than to receive" was presented today
in the Holy See Press Office by Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of
the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," Msgr Karel Kasteel, secretary and Fr.
Oreste Benzi, founder of the Pope John XXIII Association.
Archbishop Cordes stated that the words of Jesus - "It is more blessed to
give than to receive" - seem to have received a "universal consensus" if we
look at the world of charitable institutions, corporations involved in
charity, governments preparing budgets to benefit the poor, needy and
underprivileged and fund-raising events for charity sponsored by actors,
sports figures and politicians. He noted, for example, from personal
experience how airlines, sponsoring a specific foundation, asked for
donations aboard flights or how, in airports, passengers are asked to help a
specific cause.
He asked: "Is this widespread action of good works perhaps proof that
Jesus' statement has found global recognition and that maybe it is
superfluous today to underscore it? But upon closer examination we see that
both recipients and donors can have aims that are quite diverse in their
activity for others."
The archbishop recalled other words of Jesus: "But when you give alms, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Philanthropy and
solidarity have even become "a business", he stated, which can lead to "the
possibility that those who run it take a substantial quota for their own
needs." Sometimes philanthropy is undertaken, he said, to improve one's
personal image or that of a company.
Archbishop Cordes pointed out that Pope John Paul's reminder that "It is
more blessed to give than to receive" is a "new exhortation to give but it
also imposes clear limits." He highlighted the Pope's statement about the
generosity of those missionaries and members of movements who help the poor,
needy and underprivileged throughout the world, saying: "They become
instruments themselves for their brothers and sisters, in the sense that
today's Lenten Message gives in which the Holy Father describes the highest
form is availability for those who suffer as 'the disinterested gift of
oneself for others'."
He emphasized that it is this altruistic, selfless form of charitable
giving to which we must return, putting aside hopes for personal glory or
recognition or reward.
Fr. Oreste Benzi, affirmed the archbishop, is one of those persons who
have totally given of themselves. As founder of the John XXIII Association,
he has worked since 1968 with young people to help the materially and
mentally impoverished. The 186 centers worldwide assist "so-called normal
families with prostitutes, former drug addicts and alcoholics, as well as
the physically and mentally handicapped." The archbishop described Fr.
Oreste as "a simple man, who is changing the world 180 degrees. His motto
is: 'The young do not need something, they need someone'."
Fr. Oreste asserted that, "In a word to the poor, to the least, I have to
give them the answer they need, not the answer the establishment wants that
everything and everyone is well. Sharing requires belonging, not just a
performance. It is necessary to remove the causes of injustice and
marginalization. We cannot just help victims, we must prevent them from
becoming victims, according to St. Augustine and the teaching of the Fathers
and Magisterium of the Church. Charity cannot cover up problems, it must
resolve them. We can't just shed tears on the hungry; we have to unmask who
is making them hungry. One cannot only move against terrorist acts. One has
to defeat terrorist systems."
"The Church herself," he stated, "is justice. Promoting acts of justice,
the Church shows her true identity and attracts all people. The Pope is the
proof of this."
