The work of charity in the life and mission of the church

In his first encyclical entitled "God is Love," Pope Benedict XVI has laid out a spiritual plan for those called to the concrete service of the poor.

In bold terms, he shows how central this service is to the life of the Church.

"The Church cannot neglect the service of charity anymore than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word."

"The great Christian writer Tertullian (after the year 220) relates how the pagans were struck by the Christians' concern for the needy of every sort."

While Catholic service agents should be characterized by professionally competent and well-trained people, who know “what to do and how to do it,” and have true professional competence, this, in itself, says the Pope, is not sufficient.

"We are dealing with human beings and human beings always need something more than technically proper care. They need humanity. They need heartfelt concern."

It is a work which must arise from faith and prayer, for only then can it be truly the work of Jesus Christ. It cannot be used as a means of engaging in proselytism. "Love," says the Pope, "is free; it is not practiced as a way of achieving other ends." But this does not mean that it leaves Christ aside. As Pope Benedict XVI points out, "Often the deepest cause of suffering is the very absence of God. Those who practice charity in the Church's name will never seek to impose the Church's faith upon others. They realize that a pure and generous love is the best witness to the God in whom we believe and by whom we are driven to love."

The worker who serves in the name of Christian charity realizes that this work is a privilege and a grace, and he or she undertakes it with gratitude to God. In what is believed to be an early Christian hymn, Paul lays out the heart of Catholic Charities, "If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing" (v.3). "This hymn," says the Pope, "must be the Magna Carta of all ecclesial service. Practical activity will always be insufficient, unless it visibly expresses a love for man, a love nourished by an encounter with Christ. My deep personal sharing in the needs and sufferings of others becomes a sharing of my very self with them: if my gift is not to prove a source of humiliation, I must give to others not only something that is my own, but my very self; I must be personally present in my gift."

Only that kind of radical love is worthy of those serving in organizations dedicated to making present the charity and love of Jesus Christ. Only a love rooted in Christ will make clear that the work of charity is part of the Church's universal mission of love.