In Deed and Truth

“We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If someone who has worldly means sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God remain in him? Children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.” (1 John 3:14, 16-18)

St. Basil the Great wrote, “The bread which you do not use is the bread of the hungry; the garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of him who is naked; the shoes that you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot; the money that you keep locked away is the money of the poor; the acts of charity that you do not perform are so many injustices that you commit.” This isn’t meant to say that we can only have one set of clothing, what would we wear when we are washing them? But it does make me think about how much focus we put on things. How we think we need to have another new outfit or pair of shoes, the latest phone or a bigger TV. We think these things will make us happy, more popular or more powerful. My friend has so many clothes it is insane. She has two huge dressers and two walk-in closets full of clothes. She literally has a drawer stuffed with white shirts. Why does she need 20 long-sleeved white t-shirts and just as many short-sleeved ones? One of her closets has her “summer pants”. I counted them and she has 36 pairs of capris or other summer pants. She could wear a different outfit every day and not wear the same thing twice for at least a year. She is a very loving person but for some reason having lots of clothes brings her happiness. Whenever I am at her house I think about how many people would benefit if she gave away only half of them. I think about how much money would be saved and could be used to help those in need. I am not being judgmental, I love getting new things and while clothes are not something I buy in excess, we all have things that we use to make us feel “loved”.

And while giving things to those in need is important, there are thousands of people here in Dallas who go to bed hungry every night and are in need of clothes and shelter, there are even more people in need of love. There are so many who are lonely, scared, grieving, abused, sick or dying. They are in need of our attention. They need a warm touch or hug, they need someone to listen to their story, maybe they need someone to mentor them so they can succeed and be the first one in their family to graduate from high school or need a ride to Mass on Sundays. Let us lay down our lives for our brothers as Christ laid down his life for us. Let us gain our lives by acts of charity and share what we have with those in need so that we may share in the bounty of heaven. All that we have are gifts from God, they are not meant for us to keep but to be shared with our brothers.