Pope: almsgiving is mercy, not change for the poor
“[C]harity requires, first of all, an attitude of inner joy.” “Offering mercy cannot be a burden or a nuisance to get rid of quickly.” “[P]raise God through sacrifice and praise God with alms.” “[A]lmsgiving must also be a sacrifice.”
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – Pope Francis held his special monthly Jubilee Audience this morning, speaking on the relationship between mercy and almsgiving.
Almsgiving is not "simply hastily given change,” he said, “without looking at the person, without stopping to talk, to understand what they really need;” instead, “it is an act of sincere attention for those who come towards us to ask for our help, done in secret and whose value only God sees and understands”.
After moving among the 50,000-strong crowd in St Peter’s Square in his white jeep, the pontiff said, “Almsgiving might seem simple, but we must be careful not to empty this gesture of its meaningfulness. In fact, the term ‘alms’ (or almsgiving) is rooted in the Greek for ‘mercy’. Thus, alms carry all the richness of mercy. Like mercy’s thousand paths, its thousand ways, alms can be expressed in many ways, to ease the distress of those in need."
"The duty of almsgiving is as old as the Bible. Sacrifice and almsgiving were two duties that religious people had to fulfil. There are important pages in the Old Testament in which God requires special attention for the poor, be they paupers, foreigners, orphans and widows.
“This is constantly repeated in the Bible, right? The [words] needy, widow, stranger, alien, orphan are always repeated. Because God wants his people to look after our brothers. But let me say that they are at the centre of the message: praise God through sacrifice and praise God with alms. In addition to the duty of remembering them, it [the Bible] gives a precious suggestion, "give generously and not with a stingy heart,’ (Dt 15:10). This means that charity requires, first of all, an attitude of inner joy.”
“Offering mercy cannot be a burden or a nuisance to get rid of quickly. How many people find excuses about almsgiving by saying, ‘What kind of guy is this one to whom I give money? I bet he’ll buy wine and get drunk!’ But if he does so, it is because he has no other way. What do you do, unseen by others? . . . Can you be the judge of that poor man who asked you for some coins to buy a glass of wine?
“I like the story about old Tobit who, after receiving a large sum of money, called his son and told him, ‘Give alms from your possessions. Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that God’s face will not be turned away from you’ (Tb 4:7). These are very wise words that help us understand the value of almsgiving."
Jesus, the pope said, "left us with an irreplaceable teaching about it. First of all, he asks us not to give alms in order to be praised and admired by people for our generosity, 'do not let your right hand not know what the left is doing’. Appearances do not count; what counts is the ability to stop and face the person asking for help. Each of us can ask himself or herself, ‘Am I capable of stopping to look in the face, to look into the eyes of the person who is asking for my help? Can I?"
"We should not identify almsgiving as hastily given change, without looking at the person, without stopping to talk, to understand what they really need. At the same time, we must distinguish among the poor and the various forms of begging that do not serve the real poor. In short, almsgiving is an act of love towards those we meet; it is an act of sincere attention for those who come towards us to ask for our help, done in secret whose value only God sees and understands. For us, almsgiving must also be a sacrifice.
“I remember a mother. She had three children, six, five and three years old more or less. She always taught her children that they had to give alms to those people who asked. One day, at lunch, everyone was eating breaded fillet, a Milanesa* as we say in my country, when someone knocked at the door. After her eldest went to the door, he came back and told his mother, ‘Mom, there is a poor man asking for something to eat. What do we do? We give him, the three of us, what?’ Well, you take a half of your fillet; you take a half; and you take a half, and we make two sandwiches.’ ‘No way, mom!’ ‘No way, [son]? You give some of yours. You give what it costs you.’”
“This is what it means to be involved with the poor. I give up something that is mine in order to give it to you. Parents, beware! Teach your children to give alms, to be generous with what they have. So, let us heed the words of the Apostle Paul [when he said,] “In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35; cf. 2 Cor 9:7).”
* The milanesa (in Italian "cotoletta or filetto alla milanese") is breaded meat fillet, a dish common in South America brought over by Italian immigrants.
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