Practicing Charity This Advent Season
By Katie Trudeau
We all have a duty, an obligation, to be charitable to our neighbor. Charity is something we ought to do, especially in the Advent season. We proclaim in word that we are disciples of the Light. However, this season stresses us out because money is spent like water and selfishness starts to set in as we see the newest iPhone and next get-away flight deal dropping in our inboxes.
Have our actions been matching our words this Advent? Well, if you’re like me, then you’re struggling! With bills to pay, gas tanks to fill, groceries to buy - the last thing we want to do is feel the need to be charitable in deed or gift. We think someone else will do it, and so we try to hide our struggles from families or friends.
Millennials don’t make eye contact with ushers at Church for collections, but they’ll spend $5 on coffee after Mass or $15 on brunch. So we have to ask ourselves, why can’t I even give $1?
Mark 12:42 | A poor widow came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
We may live in nice apartments with friends or family, but there are others who aren’t as fortunate. If we don’t give in collections, do we give to others in our community? Or at least our time to others? We prioritize where our money goes whether we admit it or not. (i.e. Netflix, beer, margaritas, Ben & Jerry’s, coffee, Soul Cycle - you fill in the blank!) We prioritize where our time goes too! (i.e. Netflix, naps, video games, overtime at work, going out with friends - you fill in the blank!) These things aren’t bad… but they can become bad if we use them as excuses of why we cannot be charitable to others with our time or money.
I challenge you in this third week of Advent to truly embrace the Light we say we follow. So many of our fellow neighbors, family, and friends are suffering in loneliness and uncertainty. From your concierge to your boss, everyone has been suffering this year. Use the last few weeks of this year to re-prioritize and make new goals of how to be charitable in the New Year.
Remember, just as the widow gave all she had, we too must hurt to give for it to be true charity. There is nothing heroic about giving money when you have plenty, or time; however, giving when it hurts is heroic.
“Love to be real, it must cost—it must hurt—it must empty us of self.”
