Charities, I'm troubled

[LighthouseRon]

I was born with cerebral palsy. Because my parents were of modest means and could not easily afford medical treatment for me, they turned to Shriner’s hospital for crippled children. They were quite wonderful and I am very thankful for the help they provided. This happened about 25 years ago. Last year, as I became more serious about my catholic faith, I asked a question here regarding accepting help from Shriner’s, as they are tied to the Masons, a not so friendly organization in the catholic church’s eyes. I was told it is okay to accept help from organizations such as them. The other day I read a thread saying catholics should not support organizations such as The Salvation Army as they are Protestant based, or only support them if they are the only organization providing such services. It was said there was no need to support The Salvation Army or non-catholic organizations like it because there are organizations such as St. Vincent DePaul, which provide the same service.

I don’t understand why it is okay to accept help from Shriners or the Salvation Army but it is not okay to contribute to them. With the Salvation Army and Shriners, I’ve always thought they do a tremendous amount of good and it seems very selfish to accept help from them but when things turn around for the individual, they shouldn’t help them in return? Am I looking at this correctly?

Thanks,

Ron

 

[wcknight]

Normally I support Catholic Charities first, BUT I do contribute to some non-Catholic charities such as the Salvation Army.

I would not support the Shriners in particular because at some point they were considered anti-Catholic.

I don’t know and am not really interested if they still are anti-Catholic. Fortunately I do not need their assistance, and I commend them for helping you out. IF you feel obligated or grateful for their assistance by all means give something back in return.

 

[wcknight]

Personally, I think giving to charitable organizations who are not known to be anti-Catholic is fine. BUT if there is a Catholic organization doing the same type of work, I would give to them first.

 

[koda]

LighthouseRon:

I was born with cerebral palsy. Because my parents were of modest means and could not easily afford medical treatment for me, they turned to Shriner’s hospital for crippled children. They were quite wonderful and I am very thankful for the help they provided. This happened about 25 years ago. Last year, as I became more serious about my catholic faith, I asked a question here regarding accepting help from Shriner’s, as they are tied to the Masons, a not so friendly organization in the catholic church’s eyes. I was told it is okay to accept help from organizations such as them. The other day I read a thread saying catholics should not support organizations such as The Salvation Army as they are Protestant based, or only support them if they are the only organization providing such services. It was said there was no need to support The Salvation Army or non-catholic organizations like it because there are organizations such as St. Vincent DePaul, which provide the same service.

I don’t understand why it is okay to accept help from Shriners or the Salvation Army but it is not okay to contribute to them. With the Salvation Army and Shriners, I’ve always thought they do a tremendous amount of good and it seems very selfish to accept help from them but when things turn around for the individual, they shouldn’t help them in return? Am I looking at this correctly?

Thanks,

Ron

This kind of reminds me of the Good Samaritan story. IMO, if they do go to you, you should do the same by them.