Intentions of the Holy Father for April

Ecology and Justice. That governments may foster the protection of creation and the just distribution of natural resources.
Hope for the Sick. That the Risen Lord may fill with hope the hearts of those who are being tested by pain and sickness.

Can You Do More?




Ask yourself, "Can I give up my Starbucks this morning and maybe tomorrow, too, and give the money to someone who really, really needs it badly?"  These people, the ones who weren't crushed to death, are now beginning to face acute dehydration by the tens and hundreds of thousands.  Hungry will be turning into a mortal threat in a couple more days, especially for the injured or weak.  People are becoming agitated and starting to loot and fight over very limited supplies.  Christian America, we've started to help - let's keep it up.

Catholic Relief Services
Food for the Poor

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Question: is it wrong to not want to donate money when one is skeptical that the money may not go to the people who really need it?

Unknown said...

Absolutely not, Christopher. In fact, if we have a serious reason to believe that donated money will not be spent wisely by an organization, we have a serious obligation not to donate to that organization.

Happily, there are many very credible organizations that have already set up work in Haiti to which we can direct our charitable giving.

As Christians, we do have an obligation to give generously; our Lord taught us that it is praiseworthy to give not only of our bounty, but of our livelihood (Mark 12:42-44).

So it is a matter of discerning the causes to which we will give, the amounts we are prudently able to give, and the organizations through which we will give that money to those causes. It is also very important that we spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to open our heart, and asking him to reveal to us our own selfishness and to build up in us a greater generosity.

If we think of all that our Blessed Lord has given us, in no time we will want to give to others.

Unknown said...

Thank you.