Sep 13 Sat
What should we give, bread or the Word?
Addressing an assembly of priests, Mother Teresa asked them: “Give us Christ; only Christ; always Christ!”
In the same line, during a recent “Address to the Participants in the Social Week of Peru,” Pope Leo made some observations well worth noting: “Let us understand that all social action of the Church must have as its center and goal the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, so that, without neglecting the immediate, we always remain aware of the proper and ultimate direction of our service. For if we do not give Christ in His entirety, we will always be giving extremely little.”
That’s already a very useful clarification. But he added: “It is not two loves, but rather one and the same love, that moves us to give both material bread and the bread of the Word that, in turn, by itself, will give rise to hunger for the Bread of Heaven, which only the Church can give, by the mandate and will of Christ, and which no human institution, however well-intentioned it may be, can replace.
This Christocentric vision of our faith is not only the Church’s spiritual life but is indispensable for her charitable work.
The Church’s charitable work is always “extremely little” compared to the real mission of our faith: salvation.
Millions have benefited from the Church's generosity, and this work is invaluable. However, if we truly believe the Nicene Creed, it’s extremely little compared to eternity. The Holy Father’s words should be a call to reexamine how the Church understands her mission in society as a leaven for the common good.
The common good is not just material well-being: food, shelter, jobs, physical and mental health, and so forth. All of this is good and should be part of the mission of the Church as an agent of charity. And yet our eternal destiny is still more relevant.
To intentionally ignore the salvific purpose of the Church’s work is a failure to advance the Church’s essential mission.
The purpose of the Church is the glorification of God, the continuation of Christ's saving work, thus, the sanctification of humanity, and the establishment of communion with God, first our own, and then to aid others on their own path.
The Church is not simply an NGO. She is the mystical body of Christ. She gives bread to sustain the body, but, more importantly, she is the source of the Bread of Eternal Life, the Bread of Heaven.
Advocating for religious liberty, for charitable services, social justice, and even the pro-life work of the Church is all extremely little if not tied to the salvific mission of the Church.
I think that the Church’s charitable work and public advocacy must be more explicitly connected to the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.
For if we do not give Christ in His entirety, we will always be giving extremely little.