Authentic Charitable Work

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For a few years, I have done my charitable work at a restaurant for the less fortunate in my city. We serve lunch and dinner for most of the week. The only day we close is Saturday. There are about 40 patrons at any given time and the place looks like an Italian cafe. It is tastefully done. The cooks are paid to have some consistency but mostly everyone who helps is a volunteer. The patrons are not homeless but in the words of one volunteer – troubled. How does one work with such people?

I have always tried to understand why I go there. Sometimes I come home feeling so despondent and other times completely fulfilled but I never feel alone. I think about these people often. What are their lives like and how did they end up eating in a place like this? It is a quaint place but the day I saw a family having a birthday party for their child there, I wondered what would bring them there?

Don Luigi Giussani

One of my favourite authors is the Servant of God, Don Luigi Giussani of Communion and Liberation. He discusses charitable work:

Above all, our very nature requires us to be interested in others. When there is something beautiful within us, we desire to communicate it to others. When we see others, who are worse off than we are, we desire to help them with something of ours. This need is so original, so natural, that it is within us before we are conscious of it. We call it the law of existence. We do charitable work to satisfy this need.

I must think about why I go to this centre of outreach.  I would never be able to work there without Him. Many of the clients are mentally ill or have some difficulty functioning in the daily world but charity is important. We do not look at the patrons as people we need to save. We need to look at Christ and understand what is here for me. Why do I go?

Charitable Work

Pope Francis talks about charity:

Charity is even yet more authentic and more incisive when it is lived in communion. Communion shows that charity is not merely about helping others but is a dimension that permeates the whole of life and breaks down all those barriers of the individualism which prevent us from encountering one another. Charity is the inner life of the Church and is manifested in ecclesial communion.

I go to this charitable work with friends and colleagues. I want it to permeate my whole life. When I go with a group it is much more enjoyable, but it is not without flaws. The volunteers eat after the patrons do and one time, I was quite surprised when a volunteer told me that he would not eat because “I have better food at home.” To think that we would never end up in that position is incredibly narrow-minded. But it is easy to think we are better than that.

Luigi Giussani said that is a wrong starting point to do this charitable work to meet the needs of others as we perceived them to be. I try not to go in with that mentality. He says again, “It is Another who can make them happy. Who is the reason for everything? Who made everything? God.”

Humility

I do my work there without the pretension of trying to save everyone. It is easy to make that mistake. The haughtiness of our lives dissipates in this centre of outreach. We are humbled by our actions. I think that when I go there: to help with the cooking, the food preparation, the cleaning and mopping or washing dishes, all help me to understand Pope Francis’ quote so much more. It is a lived experience. Ste. Therese of Lisieux said, “Jesus does not demand great actions from us, but simply surrender and gratitude.”

The one difficulty I do experience is watching those who come in with mental illness. I often wonder, what are their lives like outside of this place. They come and have a meal and try to find some sort of companionship.

With the pandemic, we have reverted to a takeout service. There is no inside dining and they take their meals to wherever; I do not know where. Each person in this place was someone before they started eating there. They could be a victim of some sort of abuse or violence. They could suffer from mental illness or they could have recently been freed from prison. We never ask questions unless they volunteer information.

I have seen so much in this centre – fights, joy, laughter, and pain. It is all part of the human experience. Pope Francis reminds that, “True charity requires courage. Let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty to help those in need.”

It is a daunting task. I feel rejuvenated when I leave there each week, but it is not so easy. Watching people coming in for their meal is beautiful yet difficult to understand. I only know that God’s love prevails. His love is beyond our understanding. Each of us bears a cross as St. Bernadette says.”Why must we suffer?

Here below pure Love cannot exist without suffering. O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross when I think of yours.” The suffering of these people is not in vain and yet I experience it firsthand. I only want to be of service.

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9 thoughts on “Authentic Charitable Work”

  1. then why didn’t you say so originally? You forget or don’t care about baby’s being murdered and mother committing murder. From your reply you think that giving a bum some socks is really Godly. Is that how much you love the unborn being torn to shreds?

  2. There is a fairly simple way to help the homeless, who I regularly see at highway exits in our area. I go the the dollar store and purchase a bunch of stuff, starting with clean socks (something the homeless ask for!), hand gel, if I can find it, wet wipes, simple food items, food bars, beef sticks, crackers and peanut butter, and whatever else I can find. In winter I add gloves.

    I then fill gallon plastic bags and keep them in the car for when I see someone. When I stop to give a bag, I try to learn the person’s name and a bit about them, as I often see the same people. Depending on the situation, I will help in other ways…in the winter I will get boots from a resale shop, for example.

    In this way, I can help without giving cash, which could go for drugs, alcohol or cigarettes.

    1. Excellent work with the homeless. The Outreach where I work is not for the homeless like I wrote in the first paragraph. They are troubled but we also provide them with items they need. There are many ways to help everyone.

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  4. Thanks for reminding us of the existential nature of charity. I happen to think that there is a correlation between declining mass attendance and people not understanding how the Faith connects with real life. To follow Jesus is not about adopting a set of rules or a new philosophical outlook, it is rather to resign ourselves to doing the things that lead to a fulfilled human existence.

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