by CCSJ Chair, Leela Ramdeen
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. . . Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me.” (Matthew 25:35-36, 40)
On Friday, March 9, I shared with parishioners at Holy Cross Church, Princes Town, a Catholic perspective about “Doing good works”. Throughout our scriptures there are references that inspire us to “do good”.
In Acts 10:38 we read that Jesus, whose footsteps we should be following, “went about doing good”. And in John 15:8 Jesus makes it clear that “It is to the glory of my Father that you should bear much fruit, and then you will be my disciples.”
Prayer will help us to bear fruit. However, prayer alone is not sufficient. As we read in James 2:26: “…faith is dead if it is separated from good deeds.”
Matthew 5:13-16 reminds us: “You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world….your light must shine in the sight of men and women, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.”
Peter tells Christians about their obligations towards those who are not Christians. He says: “…Always behave honourably among pagans so that they can see your good works for themselves” (1 Peter 2:12).
In 1 Thessalonians 4:15, Paul, Silvanus and Timothy tell the Church in Thessalonica that they must “care for the weak…you must all think of what is best for each other and for the community…pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God, because this is what God expects you to do in Christ Jesus.”
We must “do good” to everyone, not only to Christians. “We must never get tired of doing good because if we don’t give up the struggle we shall get our harvest at the proper time. While we have the chance, we must do good to all…” (Galatians 6:10). Our neighbour is anyone who has need of us (The Parable of the Good Samaritan: Luke 12: 25-37).
Paul urges Timothy to tell rich Christians “that they are to do good, and be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share” (1 Tim 6:18).
Jesus highlights the generosity of the poor in the story of the widow’s mite (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4). He was teaching in the temple and watched people putting money in the “treasury”. Many rich people put in a lot of money. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, “the equivalent of a penny”. He said to his disciples: “I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.” That is love in action.
1 John 3:17-18 tells us: “If a man who was rich enough in this world’s goods saw that one of his brothers was in need, but closed his heart to him, how could the love of God be living in him? My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active; only by this can we be certain that we are children of the truth…”
Pope Benedict XVI’s Lenten Message this year is drawn from Hebrews 10:24 which states: “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works.” The theme of his Lenten message is: “Do not remain silent before evil.” If we link the two aspects of his message, we will see that he is asking us, not only to do good works, but also to speak out in the face of evil.
We must walk with the two feet of Christian Service: works of mercy and works of social action. Going to Mass on Sundays and receiving the body and blood of Christ is not all that is required of us if we are to be true to our faith. We must go out after Mass and become the body and blood of Christ in the world. It is our faith that will spur us on to do good works.
