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By Jerry Eaton, LMSW
Executive Director
Catholic Charities

I recently wrote this Food for Thought and, hopefully, meditation to be used with staff, existing board members and for new board members about what it is we do, and are part of, daily in our work at Catholic Charities and I thought readers of the Globe might like to see it as well.

Why do we exist as a Catholic Charity – what is our charitable role within the Church? How does Christ’s message of forgiveness and love guide us as a charity? According to Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical “God is Love”

•   “Those who practice charity in the Church’s name will never seek to impose the Church’s faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love. A Christian knows when it is better to say nothing and to let the love speak alone.”
 
• “This love does not simply offer people material help, but refreshment and care for their souls, something which is even more necessary than material support.” 

• “We are dealing with human beings, and human beings always need more than technically proper care. They need heartfelt concern. Those who work for the Church’s charitable organizations must be distinguished by the fact that they do not merely meet the needs of the moment, but they dedicate themselves to others with heartfelt concern, enabling them to experience the richness of humanity.”

• “Charity, furthermore, cannot be used as a means of engaging in what is nowadays considered proselytism. Love is free: it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends.”

• “This proper way of serving others also leads to humility. The one who serves does not consider himself superior to the one served, however miserable his situation at the moment may be. Christ took the lowest place in the world – on the cross – and by this radical humility he redeemed us and constantly comes to our aid.”

God has given us life in this bountiful world capable of meeting the needs of each and every human being on the planet. God has given us this life with senses to see the beauty around us in color, to hear each other, the sounds of nature, beautiful music, to smell the freshness of a spring rain, to taste the best thing you will ever eat, and to touch and share the warmth of being. God has given us the gifts of being able to use our senses and to think, feel, learn, mature, love, and to actually care. In addition, God trusts us to decide how we use these gifts. What wondrous gifts and power God has given us.

Does God have the right to ask for our help in caring for His creation? What does God have the right to ask of us in this bountiful world? What is our purpose as a charity within God’s creation and how does that differ, if it does, from what is expected of any human being in God’s creation?

The mission of Catholic Charities is as old as the Church itself and the Church has been working on that mission since the time of Christ – given all of this work, over all of this time, why is even our Christian community still so troubled and chaotic?

Why do we still need Catholic Charities? Do we still need Catholic Charities? How do we help in this troubled and chaotic world? Should our success, or failure, as a Catholic Charity be judged by whether or not we still have individual, family, societal, and problems between individuals, family members, or problems within communities, or problems between societies? Should our success, or failure, as a Catholic Charity be judged by whether or not we do those things listed in the quotes from Pope Benedict XVI above?