Be Charitable

"Charity is certainly greater than any rule. Moreover, all rules must lead to charity." -St. Vincent de Paul

“Be charitable.” If I told you that, what would you think I meant? The word charity is linked to a lot of things—people who are famous for giving up their possessions, doing great things that you don't think you'd be able to live up to. Or maybe you just don't want to try it—come on, we're all human and don't give things up easily. I have a hoard of books in my room that I haven't even read yet, however it would be difficult to let them go. There have been times I could donate a few, but I wasn't strong enough.

TAttachment to possessions is a whole different subject altogether. What I'm talking about is the virtue of charity. According to St. Paul, charity is the greatest of virtues—because charity means love. All the searches I do regarding charity bring me to 1 Cor 13:1-3, in which he doesn't use the word charity, but love. I think that makes it a little easier to understand, because we all know what love is. So let's translate: The greatest virtue is love. But why? In the passage from 1 Corinthians, St. Paul puts it this way:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is the greatest virtue, and charity is love. It is the most important virtue, because God is love. Jesus said there were two most important laws, and both of them involved love:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matt 22:37-39

Charity/love is important because it is a commandment. We shall love the Lord and our neighbors as well. But what is love, you ask? It's a necessary element to have a successful relationship with anyone—parents, siblings, children, co-workers, acquaintances. Without love, we have nobody to hold us through the bad times. Without love, we have nothing—because the greatest poverty, I think, is to not have a shoulder to cry on. Note: Charity can also be letting a person be that shoulder to cry on. Don't be too proud to accept help. 

I could give my books to charity, but if I did it without love—if I did it only because everyone else is doing it and I need to fit in, then what am I doing? This is not a reason for me to keep more than I need. But it's an example for the point I'm trying to make. When you start giving things freely and feeling joy because of it, that's true love—that is Charity. You're not a bad person if you don't feel like you can go on a mission trip, or give up things that belong to you. Just pray for the desire to give when you find someone in need—the Lord can soften even a heart that is of stone. It'll probably take time and a lot of tears before you, or even I, understand.

We all feel love for our parents and siblings—but, as the Bible says, we have to love our enemies as well. Not necessarily in giving physical gifts, because that doesn't scratch the surface of charity. Charity is when you are able to look past appearances, and see Jesus instead. That's why it's the greatest of virtues! How you treat another person becomes how you are treating the Lord Himself. So if I told you to “be charitable,” I'd actually be saying “love your neighbor.” And how do you do that? Again, the answer can be found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, that classic passage:

Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

That's a lot to take in, but with prayer and practice, it'll shape us into the Christians we're supposed to be. We have got to be Christ to others, and we have got to treat others like Christ. This is love, charity, whatever word you prefer—and it's not easy, because you've got to feel it. But once you get on the path to perfect love (we will never achieve perfect love in this life) I tell you, it's worth the journey. I also tell this to myself, because I'm not perfect; there are moments where I could be kinder or more patient.

And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Matt 25:40

I didn't tell you to be charitable. Jesus did when he spoke of the greatest commandment. Go out there now and do it—put into practice the greatest virtue of them all. With His help, it is possible—and so, so worth it. Love is worth it.

-Mariella