“the sense of moral responsibility”
This lesson is a survey of four papal encyclicals (Redemptor Hominis, Centesimus Annus, Evangelium Vitae, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis) written by Saint John Paul II. The survey reveals key teachings of the Church regarding the words of Jesus in Matthew 25.
See also the Catholicism Series – Fr. Robert Barron.
Lesson 2: Section V – Mother Teresa “You did it to me”
Lesson 8: Section IV – Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (about 25min)
Theme One: Moral Responsibility
“…it is necessary to establish, accept and deepen the sense of moral responsibility, which man must undertake. Again and always man. This responsibility becomes especially evident for us Christians when we recall – and we should always recall it – the scene of the last judgment according to the words of Christ related in Matthew’s Gospel. This eschatological scene must always be ‘applied’ to man’s history; it must always be made the ‘measure’ for human acts as an essential outline for an examination of conscience by each and every one: ‘I was hungry and you gave me no food…naked and you did not clothe me…in prison and you did not visit me.’ These words become charged with even stronger warning, when we think that, instead of bread and cultural aid, the new States of nations awakening to independent life are being offered, sometimes in abundance, modern weapons and means of destruction placed at the service of armed conflicts and wars that are not so much a requirement for defending their rights and their sovereignty but rather a form of chauvinism, imperialism, and neocolonialism of one kind or another. We all know well that the areas of misery and hunger on our globe could have been made fertile in a short time, if the gigantic investments for armaments at the service of war and destruction had been changed into investments for food at the service of life." [1]
Each individual will be judged. We cannot assume that someone else will take care of the needs of the poor. We cannot assume that someone will care for both the body and soul (works of mercy) of others. This is our responsibility and we will be judged based on the responsibility we have been given.
Theme Two: We must give what is needed, Care of Body and Soul
We must give the needy, what they need. The Holy Father speaks about the misuse of giving and the responsibility to channel money in the right direction. What are some examples of misuse of money given to the needy? The purchase of weapons rather than food is one example. Another example is groups that raise money to feed the hungry and then use that money to sterilize women, stealing from them their fertility. Our works of mercy must not contradict each other, we want to feed the hungry but we don’t support the use of sterilization or birth control, which threatens life itself. Some believe that the answer is to decrease the population. In other words, if needy people don’t have children, there will be fewer children to feed. First, Christ tells us there will always be poor and needy people, “You always have the poor with you…” (John 12:8) Second, the Church upholds the fact that all life is sacred and that life should never be destroy. Life is first and foremost both in the womb and out.
To give what is needed also entails that we care for both the body and the soul. This is why the Catholic Church teaches the spiritual (soul) and corporal (body) works of mercy. We care for both body and soul. The Missionaries of Charity first invite volunteers to “pay a visit” to Jesus as they bring volunteers to their chapel, where the Blessed Sacrament is. The Missionaries of Charity are also adamant about making sure they take care of their own spiritual needs. There is a phrase, “You can’t give, what you don’t have.” Many times at noon, in time for mid-day prayer, the MCs will stop serving, so that they can give service (worship and prayer) to God in their chapels. It is this care of both body and soul that brings conversion in the needy. The needy and those serving in the needy understand that we are both body and soul and that both are in need. The beatitude “Blessed are the poor in spirit” is the realization that our souls are needy.
Theme Three: Moral responsibility is not a theory, but rather a reality
Five words of Jesus, “You did it to me” have literally changed the world. The Catholic Church has taken these words literally. These words are not a theory. Theories are often removed from reality; they consist of meetings, planning and many times hesitation toward action. These words of Christ are as real today as they were for Jesus and as they will be real for all times. Jesus said the poor you will always have with you. (Matthew 26:11) When something is a reality, there is no hesitation. When Mother Teresa finally received permission to begin the Missionaries of Charity she said, “May I go to the slums now?” The social message of the Gospel was not a theory for Mother Teresa but a reality to act without hesitation.
“As far as the Church is concerned, the social message of the Gospel must not be considered a theory, but above all else a basis and a motivation for action. Inspired by this message, some of the first Christians distributed their goods to the poor, bearing witness to the fact that, despite different social origins, it was possible for people to live together in peace and harmony. Through the power of the Gospel, down the centuries monks tilled the land, men and women Religious founded hospitals and shelters for the poor, Confraternities as well as individual men and women of all states of life devoted themselves to the needy and to those on the margins of society, convinced as they were that Christ’s words ‘as you did it to me’ (Mt 25:40) were not intended to remain a pious wish, but were meant to become a concrete life commitment.” [2]
What are the concrete life commitments that people, institutions and especially the Church has made in your community in service of the poor?
What are some concrete life commitments that we can make?
Theme Four: Justice is elevated by Grace
In our service to the needy, we are practicing the cardinal virtue of justice and the theological virtue of charity. Justice is fulfilled in charity. Anyone whether they are baptized or not, can show justice. Justice is a natural virtue given to all. Justice is when we give others what they are due, what is rightly theirs. Charity is justice elevated by grace. In Charity we see justice, but justice done for the sake of God and for the sake of other. “Love for others, and in the first place love for the poor, in whom the Church sees Christ himself, is made concrete in the promotion of justice. Justice will never be fully attained unless people see in the poor person, who is asking for help in order to survive, not an annoyance or a burden, but an opportunity for showing kindness and a chance for greater enrichment.” [3]
Theme Five: Charity is the measure of unity
Charity is the measure of our unity to God, for God is love. Charity is our measure in the imitation of Christ, who is the Word made Flesh, love incarnate. Charity is also the measure of our fraternal unity with our neighbor. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment: love, one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
The commandment to love is not a commandment to love only those we know or those within our “group”; it is to love as Christ loved. There is an immediate need to love and to love without bias. “…It is sufficient to face squarely the reality of an innumerable multitude of people – children, adults and the elderly – in other words, real and unique human persons, who are suffering under intolerable burden of poverty. There are many millions who are deprived of hope due to the fact that, in many parts of the world, their situation has noticeable worsened. Before there tragedies of total indigence and need, in which so many of our brothers and sisters are living, it is the Lord Jesus himself who comes to question us (Mt. 25:31-46)" [4] Christ loved all and so we love all. Christ loved those most in need and loved to the point of sacrifice and death.
“Jesus has set the standard which the Christian of every age must strive to follow. This is how Christians will be distinguishable from those who have still not entered the Church. What a shame if we were not to live up to that standard! We would thereby confuse everyone, and at the same time would lose the honor of being known as children of God. It is in these very sad circumstances that we foolishly neglect divine assistance, that aid which is so necessary if we are to give witness to a paganized and indifferent environment. Let us rather do our best that the world may be amazed at the wondrous spectacle of our fraternal charity. Then they will say to us what was said in earlier times: ‘See how they love one another!’” [5]
One of the precepts of the Church is to provide for the needs of the Church. “From the very beginning Christians have brought, along with the bread and wine for the Eucharist, gifts to share with those in need. This custom of the collection, ever appropriate, is inspired by the example of Christ who became poor to make us rich: Those who are well off, and who are also willing, give as each chooses. What is gathered is given to him who presides to assist orphans and widows, those whom illness or any other cause has deprived of resources, prisoners, immigrants and, in a word, all who are in need." [6]
Why do we give to the poor? It is not out of obligation, because Jesus told us, but out of charity. We love Jesus and so we do what He commands, but we also love the other, love the poor. In each act of charity “we have the opportunity to serve Jesus”.
[1] Saint John Paul II; Redemptor Hominis; 16:8-10
[2] Saint John Paul II; Centesimus Annus; 57.1
[3] Saint John Paul II; Centesimus Annus; 58
[4] Saint John Paul II; Sollicitudo Rei Socialis; 13:2
[5] In Conversation with God 5, 79.3
[6] CCC; 1351