The resounding theme in this week’s reading is all about Charity — its importance in the legion and in the life of a Christian.
This is a timely reminder as we are in the midst of Lent. Charity is the hallmark of Almsgiving — one of the 3 things we are called to practice more intensely during Lent. Throughout the history and teachings of the Catholic Faith, the virtue of Charity has always been affirmed to be one of the most important:
Book of Tobit, words of Archangel St. Raphael "Prayer with fasting is good. But better than both is almsgiving with righteousness...It is better to give alms than to lay up gold. For almsgiving saves from death and purges away every sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life..."
Catechism of the Catholic Church "Giving alms to the poor is a witness to fraternal charity: It is also a work of justice pleasing to God."
St. Peter's letter "Charity covers a multitude of sins."
Gospel of St. Matthew, words of Our Lord Himself "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself."
What comes to your mind when you think of almsgiving? Do you think of "major" acts, such as your Lenten commitments to give monetary donations to organisations, or to volunteer your time at charitable organisations?
These forms of almsgiving are good and beautiful. However, we can also practice almsgiving in a "smaller" manner — offering help, being kind, giving a smile, etc to the things or people nearer to us. Because let's be honest — we could be donating large sums of money and indulging in a false idea of our immense generosity and kindness, but at the end of the day, we are still the same old people — impatient in a dealing with a family member or friend, irritated to help someone, being lazy to help our parents...etc.
Performing acts of almsgiving in the "smaller" things are the acts of Charity that are truly going to purge us of our impurities, as St. Raphael has mentioned. This is because it is often much more difficult to be charitable to the people nearer to us than the people further from us (simply because we can see each other's faults so much more clearly — think family!), as it is when charity is required of us when it is not on our terms, but on the terms of others. This requires a more authentic dying to ourselves, which will ultimately open our hearts more to grow in the Spirit of Jesus.
In those struggles with true Charity (especially with people whom we find it extra difficult to be charitable to), God is purifying us of our weaknesses and natural inclination to the vice — be it pride, anger, selfishness, impatience and a lack of generosity. God may sometimes use such instances to show us a more accurate image of ourselves — to break down our false ideas that we have made up about ourselves and give us a true self-knowledge.
But we mustn't despair! Not even when God's light illuminates those nasty, dark spots in our hearts that we have refused to acknowledge! Because God is Love — He loves us so so much, and desires for us to live freely as He intended (which will mean ridding ourselves of all the nasties in our hearts that weigh us down), and those moments of self-knowledge are to keep us humble and close to Him (remember, the proud have nothing to do with God, but the humble have everything to do with God!). After all, the greater the sinner, the greater the right to God's Divine Mercy (words of Our Lord Himself to St. Faustina). Therefore, we should not fall into self-hatred and despair, because that would be a form of pride, in thinking ourselves to be more than what we all truly are — sinners, absolutely loved by God, who are so prone to falling.
Lastly, this week's reading also communicates the absolute importance of upholding Charity within the Legion. As Legionaries, we are soldiers of Mary, our Queen, and we are engaged in the constant fight against Evil.
Since we play such an important role in spiritual warfare, all the more the Devil would be prowling around seeking to destroy us (remember, the Devil always seeks to steal, kill and destroy!) And the number one means of doing so would be to sow discord and disharmony among the Legion itself. As Servant of God Frank Duff has mentioned, we have to hold firm: "Vigilance must never relax... Let the Legion of Mary apply itself to the protection of its camps against the possibility of invasion by this fatal spirit of the world."
We are all human, we have good days as well as bad days, and we can get on each other's nerves from time to time. But we must take care to foster and maintain Charity among ourselves by the careful "exclusion of all words and attitudes which are hostile to charity" and the "saturation of the meetings with the spirit of prayer and full Legion devotion".
At the end of the day, we must never forget that God is what holds our Legion together, and prayer is what gives us the foundation of Charity, and unites us together. After all, where Charity and Love are found, God is there, simply because God is Love.
The importance of upholding Charity is not merely limited to the Legion, but to each of our own daily lives, where we are equally likely to find opportunities to choose the virtue of Charity over self-centredness, anger and hatred, etc.
With the world constantly shoving the themes of unforgiveness, revenge, "karma", and the "me, myself and I" attitude in our faces (it's promoted EVERYWHERE — shows, songs, social media...etc), we, as Christians first and foremost, and as Legionaries, must strive to follow in Our Lord's footsteps and try our best to uphold Charity — and combat the world's definitions and practices, even when it demands of us a great deal.
Because we must never forget that we are Catholics, and our non-Catholic brethren are observing us, our actions and our choice of words. If we try our best to choose Charity in all circumstances, we are essentially evangelising about our Catholic Faith to our non-Catholic brethren — we are showing them, by our actions, that there is something beautiful in our Faith that calls us to think less of self, and more of neighbour. We are showing them that Catholics are in the world, but not of the world.
Thank you for reading thus far, may God bless you!
Comments