Charity

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time C-2

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Est 4:17 Within your will, O Lord, all things are established, and there is none that can resist your will. For you have made all things, the heaven and the earth, and all that is held within the circle of heaven; you are the Lord of all.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever

Scripture today: Galatians 1:13-24; Psalm 138; Luke 10:25-37

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test Jesus and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn, and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:25-37)

Charity One of the most interesting aspects of nineteenth-century British culture was its religious thought. Another was its anti-religious thought, which is to say its growing agnosticism and practical atheism. Still another was the concern for the working class. An example of one who combined anti-religious thought with concern for the working class was Friedrich Engels (1820 – 1895). Engels was a German social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of communist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1842, the 22-year-old Engels was sent to Manchester in Britain to work for the textile firm of Ermen and Engels in which his father was a shareholder. During his time in Manchester, Engels took notes of the horrors he observed there, notably child labour, the despoiled environment, and overworked and impoverished labourers. Two years after arriving he published his first, and perhaps most famous book, The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844, considered by many to be a classic account of the condition of the industrial working class. Originally written in German as Die Lage der arbeitenden Klasse in England, it was a landmark book by the man who went on to collaborate deeply with Karl Marx. Together they issued the Communist Manifesto in 1848, among other things dismissing religion as a mere opiate of the people. Of course, their concern for those in need — for the man half-dead on the road to Jericho — had in it the seeds of the Leninist, Stalinist and Maoist horrors of the 20th century. But the point is that Engels exemplifies a concern for those in need that had no concern for God. On the other hand, there was the man of religion who exhibited little or no concern for those in need. The reader of the Gospels gets the impression that this was one of the severe criticisms Jesus Christ levelled at many of the religious leaders of his day. In our Gospel today, in response to a question by an expert in the Law, our Lord tells his parable of the Good Samaritan. In the story, the priest and the Levite pass by the man who was half-dead on the road, while the heretical foreigner takes pity on him and nurses him to health.

To a greater or lesser extent, there are two opposite dangers in respect to those in need. On the one hand, there is the danger of being filled with concern for the poor and downtrodden, while being unconcerned for God — and even rejecting God. There are very many examples in history of this, leading ultimately to further misery. Marx and Engels offer a classic case. On the other hand, there is the danger of assiduously practising a religion that lacks concern for those in need and difficulty. This is not the religion that is pleasing to God. The prophets thundered against a religion of sacrifices and oblations, coupled with injustice and lack of compassion for the poor. Our Lord’s famous parable today features the iconic example of one who was a better man in God’s sight, and who fulfilled God’s will and Law in a much better fashion, than certain religious leaders. The Good Samaritan is the man who assists the poor and needy, and who has the praise of Christ. Incidentally, the Good Samaritan of our Lord’s story certainly was not an atheist. He was, at most, a holder of heretical opinions. Samaritans looked to Abraham and to the patriarchs, and expected, as we see in the words of the Samaritan woman to Christ, the coming of the Messiah. Christ regarded them kindly; he spoke to them respectfully — as we see in his dialogue with the Samaritan woman. He gained converts from them during his public ministry, for we read that following his success with the Samaritan woman, many of them came to believe that he was the Saviour of the world. In our Gospel passage today, he holds up a Samaritan for imitation by the religious leaders of the Jews: “Go and do likewise,” he said to the Jewish expert in God’s Law (Luke 10:25-37). Christ may have seen in some Samaritans very estimable qualities. On one occasion he healed ten lepers and it was a Samaritan who returned to him to render him profuse thanks. The others did not. In our story, it is the overflowing compassion of the Samaritan which exemplifies the Law of God that we are to love our neighbour as ourself.

One of the greatest, though hidden, English Catholics of the eighteenth century was Richard Challoner, Vicar Apostolic of the London District. During his ninetieth year (1781) he suffered a stroke. His last word was “Charity.” He wanted some money in his pocket to be given to the poor. Let us work on this, practical charity to those in need. In serving them, we serve Christ himself. So fundamental is this prescription that in our Lord’s description of the General Judgment, our treatment of those in need, especially the least, will be decisive in our eternal prospects. I was hungry, the judge will answer, and you gave me to eat. Lord, when did we see you hungry? The Judge will answer, I tell you, whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did to me.

(E.J.Tyler)

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A Second Reflection: (Galatians 1:6-12)

Fidelity to the Gospel The notable feature of the Christian religion is that it claims to be a divine revelation. We accept its truth and base our lives on it because it comes from God. The Church teaches this, and has the authority from Christ to interpret what God has revealed. All this St Paul makes clear by implication in the first chapter of his letter to the Galatians (1: 6-12). What he, Paul, taught, came from Christ, and he, Paul, is the authentic interpreter of what Christ revealed to him. But there is another thing that is clear from what St Paul says in this same chapter. It is that there is a proneness among many who have received the message of the Gospel to turn away from it and follow a different version of it. St Paul was astonished at the promptness with which some of the Galatians did this. And we find this repeated constantly in the history of the Church. Let us resolve to treasure what the Church teaches and the authority with which she teaches it, bearing witness before others to this resolve never to turn away to another version of the Good News.

(E.J.Tyler)

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