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Entry: Against Unselfishness Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/against_unselfishness#18275 Post contents: We live to Glorify God. Which means: * to keep the Sundays and Holy Days of obligation holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile work; * to keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church; * to go to confession at least once a year; * to receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year and that at Easter or thereabouts; * to contribute to the support of our pastors; * not to marry within a certain degree of kindred nor to solemnize marriage at the forbidden times. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04154a.htm I would also like to throw in the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy: * To instruct the ignorant; * To counsel the doubtful; * To admonish sinners; * To bear wrongs patiently; * To forgive offences willingly; * To comfort the afflicted; * To pray for the living and the dead; * To feed the hungry; * To give drink to the thirsty; * To clothe the naked; * To harbour the harbourless; * To visit the sick; * To ransom the captive; * To bury the dead. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10198d.htm But you knew all of that, Mr Zmirak! THOSE are the actions of the unselfish. Does that mean going out and taking in a homeless (harbourless) family? Well, yes, but not YOU personally should be responsible for it: there are Religious men and women that do that kind of thing, and your almsgiving to those Orders help much more than a selfishly unselfish act of "doing it yourself". The only "caveat" to the Corporal Works of Mercy are the sister Spiritual Works. While harbouring the harbourless, it is best you instruct them away from their ignorance by teaching the Catholic Faith; that they be counciled of their doubts, they be admonished for their sins, that they be treated patiently, to forgive them, to comfort them, and to pray for them and their ancestors. THAT is the difference between Enlightenment-influenced ideas of "charity" and the True Charity of the Catholic Church. Along with giving someone some bread to eat, they should be instructed in the One True Faith, and not by just any "yahoo" with a Bible and a missionary zeal, but by authentic, legitimate, and well catechized members of Religious Orders. This whole idea of personal "unselfishness" is Revolution run a muck; it was first seen in Sacred Scripture, with Judas Iscariot complaining the oil that was used to anoint Jesus wasn't sold off to help the poor. In fear of being accused of "false ecumenicism", I will post a part of a Methodist minister's sermon (if anyone needs a link, I will post it after this message, we are allowed only two links per post): <<Fundamentally we are reminded of the priority of loving devotion to Jesus. For those gathered in the house of Lazarus, and Mary and Martha, it is a call to be faithful in the face of Jesus’ impending death. The woman, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, seems to have a past that we have not encountered before. We simply know that she had sat at Jesus’ feet and learned from him (something women did not do) and that she and her sister owed a huge debt of gratitude to Jesus for having raised their brother from the dead. She anoints Jesus feet with a funeral ointment whose scent would remind each there of death. This precious nard perfume (made from a tree that grows in west central south Arabia) could have been sold for three hundred denarii (pieces of silver). This was an equivalent to a laborer’s annual wage! Judas objects. The community needed the money. We have ministry to do. We have hundreds for whom to care. However, Jesus denounces Judas’ self-righteous attitude that masks greed and avarice. There will always be poor people. Rather, this act of forgiveness and devotion represented in this woman’s tears and love will not be here forever. Love for Jesus outweighs all other considerations; this is bedrock theology for the whole of the gospel of John. Love surpasses all theology, all thoughts, all heresies. The gnostic heresy based on secrets (part of the heresy which invaded the early church with which the gospel writer John was especially concerned), assures one of the spirit, and certainly means keeping the commandments. However, there is no secret knowledge in this attitude of love. Love becomes the hallmark of the disciple community.>> It is Forgiveness and Love that drives the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, THAT is what makes them the true pillars of unselfishness. Sent at: 2008 09 08