What kind of charity builds up the Church?
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you… love one another, as I have loved you."
We can distinguish three levels of charity: First, the eternal love of the Father for his Son, Jesus Christ; then the love of Jesus Christ for all men; and third, the love of men among ourselves.
Charity is not merely a human virtue (philanthropy), but a theological virtue that enables us to love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Thus, supreme charity comes from God, and leads us to God.
"Charity is not just a human sentiment (compassion), but a gift of the Holy Spirit that "divinizes" us and enables us to participate in the very love of the Trinity.” St John Paul II.
The Catechism further clarifies that "Charity, the form of all the virtues, binds everything together in perfect harmony." Charity is not just one virtue among others, but the "form" that animates and inspires all the other virtues, directing them towards God.
Therefore, the Church teaches that charity disconnected from the love of God is not true charity. Charity must be rooted in, and flow from, our love for God, or else it becomes merely a human sentiment rather than a supernatural virtue; furthermore, it bears concrete fruits. True charity is always oriented towards God and the fulfillment of his plan for our lives.
The Body of Christ, born of the Eucharist, is rooted in the human ecology established by the Creator. Thus, the Church has a sacramental structure, leading to salvation in charity. But not a false charity that focuses materially on the corporal works of mercy without the desire to bring our neighbor to God. Charity must work in harmony with prudence and the other virtues.
Charity helps us to know God naturally, but it cannot coexist with errors in the profession of Catholic doctrine. In this way, doctrine contributes to the construction of charity and thus to the construction of the Christian life in true and stable love. Christian doctrine develops in a consistent line with previous explicit teachings of the Church (Tradition).
Through charity, the Church can offer a motherly face to a wounded world. The question is: what charity? Authentic charity must be articulated with the moral order, the permanent doctrine of faith, and the sacramentality of salvation in the Church. These are essential dimensions that make charity concrete and incarnate in our lives. Without them, charity lacks the reason for its presence, remains a feeling, and thus loses its capacity to build up the People of God.
Only a charity built up in harmony with the truth of the faith allows the Church to offer the People of God fruitful hope in our troubled times.
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