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Alright, so I'm having a little trouble with this, probably because of my sinful nature. So I'd like to start a little discussion on this topic.

What is Charity, how does one go about doing something charitable for the love of Christ and our fellow men and women, and how do we do something without expecting anything back?

What is something charitable that you have done, without expecting anything in return, and what would motivate you to do it again?

First, let's talk about C. S. Lewis's "Sixpence None the Richer" principle. Everything is God's gift. "Our desire to thank You is itself Your gift." When we do something for God, it's like a Father giving his daughter sixpence to buy him a birthday present. She buys him a trinket, gives it to him in love, and he appreciates it, though he is "sixpence none the richer" (from which the Christian/mainstream pop group get their name).

I find that when I want to be more charitable, all I have to do is pray, "God, give me an opportunity for charity." One case where this particularly comes in handy is on Fridays. If I'm out and about on a Friday, and I get hungry, and I *really* want to eat meat, I'll pray for a charity opportunity, and then I'll see somebody begging for food. So I'll go buy a meal for myself, and for the other guy, and then I have an excuse to eat meat.

One year, I wanted to do a significant act of charity to help prepare for Mercy Sunday. I ahd heard about St. Maximilian's intercession for financial-related causes, so I prayed to St. Maximilian for money to give away. The next day, a check came in the mail. It was like "Monopoly": "Hospital error in your favor. Collect $300."

So, my first suggestion would be to pray for the opportunity to give, then give from the heart.

Dear John,

Thank you for your post and for sharing your personal acts of charity!

God bless you,
Alice

Dear Mruzi,

I think that an overlooked of charity would be what our priests and father confessors do when they listen to our problems and offer prayers for us, *despite* undoubtedly having many similar problems of their own: health issues, issues with children and families, financial issues, etc.

Prayer for your brothers and sisters in Christ and their intentions is an act of charity and a good spiritual exercise for our own salvation, as it takes us outside of ourselves.

In Christ,
Alice

MRUZI:

Christ is in our midst!! He is and always will be!!

Charity, love, random acts of kindness, caritas

You don't need to go out looking for great things to do. As St, Seraphim of Sarov was quoted as saying " . . . all of us are called to sanctify the little things that make up our daily lives."

A smile to a stranger who makes eye contact; holding the door you are passing through so that the person a few steps behind doesn't have to open it all the way himself; sitting and listening to someone who has a problem; sending a check to a soup kitchen and making it a regular practice (every $5 makes it possible to put out one more plate); volunteering somewhere; being a Big Brother or Big Sister to some child in need; mentoring a college student . . . Need I go on?

I go twice a year to a highrise for the elderly where some of them try to get together to pray. Sometimes they can get a pastor to come in to lead them; sometimes they can't. They insist I take ten dollars as their stipend. I bring doughnuts.

There's a group of elderly women that I have worked with whose families have nothing to do with them. I call them on the phone. There was one elderly woman I used to call on the phone every year for her birthday and sing Happy Birthday. Her family said at her funeral she'd be in stitches for days--I purposely sang off key so she'd say I should keep my day job and forget about singing for a living.

It doesn't take much. Become open to Christ and let Him show you the places to be His Presence to others. That's charity; that's easy; and that's a way of life.

In Christ,
BOB

BUMP! I think this is an awesome thread where we can discuss the 'hows' of carrying out our lives as good Eastern Christians.

It is not a controversial thread, a political thread, or a theological thread, but it IS a thread, which unlike those others, will help us and others get to Heaven!

I hope that it will continue.

In Christ,
Alice

Fr Arseny, eternal memory, liked to quote St Paul from Galatians: "Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ."