Homily

Two thousand years ago Caesar did not much care what happened to the poor, the sick, the hungry and the thirsty, and those without shelter. Why should Caesar care? He had the power, they did not. The only time Caesar made a move to help the poor was when conditions were so bad that people might riot. If the people caused a riot, Caesar might be overthrown, usually by assassination. But, for the most part, unless it was bad enough to cause him major problems, Caesar did not care about what happened to the needy, sick and starving people of the Roman Empire. But Christians did. They took care of the poor. And, as time went on in the Byzantine Empire, they even got Caesar to help them take care of those in need.

But times have changed and we see a shift in the way charitable work is operating in our own country. More and more over the past decades, Caesar, our government, has portrayed itself as the true and genuine source of charity for those in need. If you're down and out, if you're ill, if you need help to get by, come to Caesar and Caesar will help you. Not only has Caesar promoted itself as the champion of the poor, now we find Caesar more and more creating laws that tell Christian charities how they must serve and who they must serve even if this service violates their Christian ethics. The greatest and latest threat is from the current administration which is trying to force all Christian institutions except for churches, into paying for contraception and abortion-inducing pills.

Caesar wants to be into the charity business in a big way because unlike the Caesars of 2,000 years ago, today the distribution of government tax money can add up to great political power in the hands of those who are seen to be giving this money out. And if Caesar can reduce the competition from other sources, like, let's say Catholic agencies, then all the more will people need Caesar to help them. Now I am not saying government does not have a role and a responsibility to care for those in need. It certainly does.

But it seems to me that when government wants to force Catholic institutions into morally evil situations, what it really wants to do is shut them down and increase its own power.

Why do people today look to Caesar to help them when they are in need? I'm not sure. I don't think it's because Christian, Catholic charities are doing less to help people than they used to. I think it's because as more and more people in our increasingly secular society drop out of church, it seems more natural to them that the government should be the main provider of charitable help. There was a period of time some years ago when people would call here for rent money or for utility bills to be paid and I would ask them if they belonged to any church. The answer, every single time was, "No." And it's too bad, because I'm sure if they did their fellow parishioners would help them, just as you have helped out your fellow parishioners in so many ways, so generously so many times in the past. People still seek help from the churches, and from Catholic agencies, but more and more they want the government to provide it.

There is a danger for us. The danger is written clearly in today's Gospel. It's a danger we need to think about and guard against. The danger is in misunderstanding what Christian charity involves. Our giving of money or material goods should not be motivated by feelings of sympathy or empathy for those in need. That's not good enough. Our giving should not come about because we feel it's our duty to help our neighbor, or because we believe we have a responsibility as human beings to help one another. That's good, but it's not good enough. We are called to offer alms, to make donations, to personally assist and help others in need by our care and labor and prayer because of the love of Christ, because of Christ's love for us, because of Christ's love for them.

Charity without Christ can still help other people in their needs, certainly. If an atheist gives a dollar to help pay for housing it spends the same as any other dollar. But we are not called to assist people simply when we feel like it, or if we judge the need to be great enough, or for any other reason than for the sake of Christ, for the love of Christ, for the service of Christ Who gave all that He had out of love for us. He died for us, He died for them. He calls us to serve them in His name, that we show to others in need the generosity Christ has shared with us—that we show the love of Christ we bear in our hearts by taking active care for those in hunger, thirst, illness or privation. It is dangerous for us to think we should help others because it's a nice thing to do, because we risk our own faith in thinking that way, opening the door to pride and temptation. We are called to help for the love of Christ, and to serve Him when we serve others, and to see Him in those we serve even if His face seems hidden from us.

So it is important that we make some kind of plan for this Lent to give alms, because Lent is the supreme time for almsgiving. It can be in cash, it can be in service, it can be in material goods, but let us make some kind of Lenten plan for ourselves that we will love Christ our Lord by serving those He loves who need our help. However we plan, let us give with humility, cheerfulness and generosity. But let us plan to give!

Everything that we have has been given to us, starting with the gift of life and divine life we received in Baptism. Everything we have has been given to us by the Lord. Yes, we may have worked to obtain a living and to buy goods and services, and that is the fruit of our labor, but ultimately all that we have comes from God. The proof of that is that whatever we may have, we will not hold onto it forever.

So in our giving we imitate Jesus Christ's own giving, we add life to our prayers and petitions, we open the door for grace not only in our own lives but in the lives of those we may help, and in our giving alms we find pardon for our sins.

Where should we give? (1) On the personal level if we know of people who need our help in cash, or goods or service of some kind. (2) Through our parish, by making donations for "God's Bank" our charity fund or using the envelopes on the book table. (3) Through Catholic organizations you know you can trust, like Catholic Community Services.

Let's make a plan for giving in Lent and not rely on emotion or tragedy to prompt our giving because our love and service to Christ should never be based on such circumstantial motives. Let us make a plan that others may be saved, and so that we may be saved with them.