Jesus commanded: “Give to everyone who asks of you?

I once had a friend whoes mother had been in the “Hitler Youth” movement during the WWII. She would remonstrate with her daughter and grandchildren if they shared their sweets with anyone. “I bought you those sweets for yourself” she would say, “Not for you to give them away!” I doubt if being in the Hitler Youth movement was the catalyst for this mean view of sharing. It was, I would guess, the results of the poverty and horror inflicted on the German people by the victors of the war. She had suffered poverty and this had warped her view of human kindness.

While teaching in Blessed William Howard Catholic High School in England I discovered that this same attitude prevailed among the students. Discussing the subject of Charity one girl enunciated for the others. “I wouldn’t give my money to someone liviing on the streets they would probably spend it on alahol.”

Recently I had an interesting experience here in Ireland. I was walking to meet a group of friends in the city. A stranger fell into step beside me and began to tell me a hard luck story of how his wife was in hospital and he needed money for bus fare to go and visit her. I knew there was little truth in the story for every hospital in the city is within walking distance. I had no cash on me so I said this but that if he continued to walk with until I met my friends I was sure one of them would have money. When we arrived at the meeting place I drew aside one of the men and asked him for a “fiver” and told him the hard luck story the stranger had shared with me. My friend said, “Yes of course, as long as he doesn’t spend it on alcohol” I looked over to where the stranger was standing, alone and at a distance from our group. He was anxiously watching to see would he get the money. I felt sad for him and angry with my friend.

My parents lived through WWII. From great poverty my mother learned to be frugal and this attribute would work to their advantage eventually bringing them great wealth. On the other hand my father was shielded from the realities of poverty by his doting mother and was always very generous with money. This didn’t impress my mother who complained that he was too “Flaithulach” with his money. (It’s an Irish word for foolish generosity pronounced “Flahool”.) So often it is a person’s life experience with poverty that makes them judgemental of how other people ought to spend their money and not be wasteful.

When the government demands to control how you spend your money.

A few years back the National Health Service NHS in the UK considered bringing into law a requirement that the people receiving state benefits would have to give an account of how they were spending their money. I was shocked when one of my close friends championed the idea and though this was a good thing. Obviously those young students of mine were now of the age to enter the halls of government and were welding their indignation at the wanton waste of government spending. Of course they never for one moment considered how much they and their friends spent on ‘booze’ at the weekends.

Now I know that others have greater knowledge of how low income folk waste their money but I just think of the suffering of the wife and children of an alcoholic and how this type of law would add to their suffering.

The bottom line of course is that Jesus did not tell us to only give to those who deserve it.

What if a bad person asks you for help?

Well our first ‘bad’ person who asks for help might be our homeless alcoholic. He or she might need the money to pay for a bed in a shelter for the night. Would we deny them a roof over their heads. For Jesus said: “What you do onto the least of these you do onto me.” and what if they were hungry? No we don’t buy them food. We give them the money to choose their own food.

What about giving money to a non christian religion to help them proselytise their faith. For instance a Muslim asked his leader should he give money to a Christian building a church. The answer was no; that the christian was worshipping another false God. However if the Muslim was living among Christians for the sake of good relations the Muslim should give to the help build a Christian Church. Now I happen to know that in Northern Ireland many years ago, during the height of Protestant hatred against Catholics a Protestant business man secretly gave the money to a priest to buy the land upon which to build Whitehouse Catholic Church.

If we move away one iota from the simple command of Jesus: “Give to everyone who asks of you” we move into the murky waters of Ethics and moral issues that will only confound us.

“So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matt 5:16 This is about the graces and gifts God has given you. It is that light which made folk realise that they were dealing with a saint. It’s that light that attracts others and make them want to have that light too. And they in turn become closer to God.

So how and why do we do our good deeds in secret? Let Jesus explain:

“Take heed that you do not your justice before men, to be seen by them: otherwise you shall not have a reward of your Father who is in heaven.”

No greater love

“This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you.
 Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
 You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.
Jesus gave His life FOR us. Jesus will give His life TO us if we ask Him

A tip that might help

A good idea to help you help others is to keep a special purse into which you drop your change every day. Then when you go to the city take it with you and give a little money to each of those begging along your way. Imagine if everyone did this soon all the homeless would be housed even have a nice car in the drive or be dead of alcoholic poisoning!

You see it’s not about the one who asks of you; what they do with their money; or wether or not they deserve the money. It’s about you and me. And how we are friends of Jesus: “You are my friends, if you do the things that I command you.”