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Where
Charity Ends
October
9/10, 2004
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
17:11-19
“Charity
begins at home.” I think all of us have heard this saying.
It is often used in a religious context. Perhaps, you might
even think that it comes from the Bible, but it does not.
It is a common bit of wisdom to which people often appeal
as they try to prioritize their resources. “Charity begins
at home,” says something that is true. However, it also can
be misleading. For if we understand this phrase as an invitation
to limit our concerns only to our immediate surroundings,
then that perspective cannot square with the gospel.
We
believe that God is the Author of all life. This makes every
person in our world a son or daughter of God. Therefore we
can draw boundaries within humanity but we cannot take any
part of humanity and place it outside of our concern. For
there is one Father of us all. There is one Lord and Savior
of us all. Therefore we are a world-wide community; a global
family and the needs and desires of any person cannot be written
off as having no relevance to us.
Now
it is, of course, true that “Charity begins at home.” The
focus of our responsibility must first of all be those who
are closest to us, our family, our parish, our community,
our diocese, our state, our country. Yet, whenever anyone
in the world is struggling with need, that need has a claim
on our sympathy and perhaps our help. Jesus is the model for
us here. In today's Gospel, he heals ten lepers. Most of them
are his own people but not all of them. One of them was a
Samaritan. Jesus, by his example, makes it clear that his
ministry reaches beyond the boundaries of nationality. He
sees in this foreigner a child of God. We, as a parish community,
follow his example. Certainly our first priority has to be
to those who are close to us, our families and neighbors.
Yet it would be a distortion of the Gospel, to think that
we could be followers of Christ without appreciating the world-wide
dimension of the family of God.
That
is why it is fortunate today that we are announcing a new
international relationship between St. Noel and a group of
women living in a small village in El Salvador. After communion
today, Alice is going to speak to us and give the details
of this relationship. But I am speaking about it here because
it is crucial for us to see in this international connection,
a reminder of our world-wide responsibility, a recognition
that we are connected to every person that God has made.
This
relationship can also serve to remind us how incredibly blessed
we are. We are incredibly blessed. Compared to so many people
in the world, we possess a standard of living that is hard
for others to conceive. Let me just give you one statistic:
our life style, our standard of living is shared by only twenty
percent of the people on the planet, and yet those who are
in that twenty percent consume eighty-six percent of the world's
resources. Eighty-six percent of the food, clothing, building,
energy, medicine that is available in the world is consumed
by the twenty percent of the people to which we belong. We
are incredibly blessed. Our abundance should never be forgotten.
Now
will this new relationship between St. Noel and the community
in El Salvador change the distribution of wealth in the world?
It will not. But it will be a real help to a few people trying
to make their lives better in El Salvador and a reminder to
us that they are our brothers and sisters and that it is right
for us to give to them out of the abundance we have received.
Charity
does begin at home, but it cannot end there. God's love for
people is universal and so we as God's sons and daughters
cannot limit the concern and love that we profess. The Gospel
today calls us to reach beyond the borders of our own country.
It calls us to adopt a vision and a practice that sees in
every person a brother or sister who is connected to us.
Mystagogia
Alice
Hinkel
In
the homily today, we were invited to see ourselves as members
of the world-wide community of God. I would like to offer
us a concrete way to live out that call. During our recent
visit to El Salvador, those of us in the St. Noel delegation
had the opportunity to meet a group of seventeen women in
the small municipality of Zaragoza. These women are working
to improve their economic situation and to be of service to
the larger community.
We
were on our way and walking to the small sewing business they
have recently started when several of them actually met us
on the road. They were concerned that we might get lost, and
we were very grateful for their guidance. The great majority
of these women are the sole supporters of their families.
They have established their organization called “Women and
Community” to support and empower one another, to take responsibility
for their own lives. In an effort to get their business off
the ground, the women have attended workshops on organizational
management. They are also involved in vocational training
for young girls and other women to help them learn sewing
skills. Another part of their mission is to teach parents
how to improve the diets of their children by giving them
more protein through the use of soy.
Financially,
the women will need thirty-five hundred dollars for this year
and the next two years as seed money to cover the cost of
materials, sewing machines, and education and marketing and
management in order to establish their small business on sound
footing. Our Social Concerns Commission has committed to a
partnership with Women and Community and to raising these
funds. Obviously, we need your help. As a faith-based organization
out of their local parish, these women seek our prayers and
offer us theirs in return. Financially you can offer your
support in one of three ways: by making a direct donation
to the box on the table in the narthex, by attending the up-coming
operatic matinee on October 24, 2004 at 4:00 PM and making
a free will offering for that event, and by purchasing a ticket
for the appetizer encore which follows the matinee. We invite
you to stop by the table in the narthex after Mass today to
make your donation and to purchase tickets to that appetizer
encore which follows the concert.
The
beauty of this partnership is that we, as a faith community,
now have a direct connection to a community in a developing
country which will receive our assistance without monies being
circulated through a number of intermediate hands. Also, it
is our hope that the future will afford opportunities for
people from St. Noel to visit Zaragoza and to continue to
build our relationship with these women. Please be aware that
this partnership is about more than charity, it is about empowerment.
It is about the works of justice wherein we meet the living
Christ. It is about these women having the opportunity to
keep their families intact, feed their children healthy diets,
develop their own skills and ability to participate in the
economic sector, which will improve their quality of life
and very possibly the quality of life of the three thousand
residents of Zaragoza.
In
today's Gospel, Jesus heals the lepers and when one returns
to give thanks, Jesus ultimately sends him on his way to continue
his life with the promise of a better future. Many of the
people of El Salvador are also in need of healing. The wounds
of their civil war, of the violence and of the unemployment
have often beaten them down. We have an opportunity to be
instruments of healing for one specific group of El Salvadorans
so that they too, can be on their way to a better future.
Please
read your bulletin and stop by the table in the narthex for
further information and as always we are grateful for your
ongoing witness of generosity and service.
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