We're all going to Hell

[Seeks_God]

villaneweva:

anyone?!?

There are ways to donate money to children throughout the world - Catholic Relief Services is one organization that does this type of work. There are many other organizations that seek monetary contributions from the average person like you and I. There’s also the glass jar sitting at your local convenience store that you can donate to…there are so many ways to give it’s unbelievable that "We are all going to hell…:

SG

 

[davy39]

villaneweva:

is placing my ability to live comfortably in front of another’s ability to survive scrupulosity? indulging in luxery is effectively choosing your desires over another’s life.

thanks,
villaneweva

Jesus said, “The poor, you will always have with you”. We have to have decent jobs in order to help people survive. The Catholic Relief Services are pretty much ignored by the mainstream press, but they good work with disasters and the poor, probably as much as the Red Cross. Also we give through the Propagation of the Faith, which help people all over the world. Many other church organizations are helping all over the world, with missionaries all over the world. The United States is one of the most giving countries there is. When we have disasters here, do you see other countries respond with help for our people? Of course, there is always room for improvement. I am approaching retirement, and I plan on doing some more things for the church afterwards. In the meantime, I don’t feel guilty at all. God bless.

 

[wcknight]

villaneweva

There are a huge number of kids that need help, and we should help them as much as we can. I give to the CRS (as others have mentioned) and a few other organizations that I think are legitimate. I can not deal with each child directly but I can support the folks who can and do give aid to them.

 

[maendem]

Dear Villaneweva,

I like your questions. Having wrestled with many of them when I was a bit younger, I would advise you that these are questions which you must struggle with by yourself and on your knees.

As someone who used to think in very black and white terms - rich = bad, poor = good, I would simply say that exploring these questions out loud often leads to judgementalism, which offends Charity, Whom you are trying to please in the first place! Quiet your heart and simply ask Jesus to guide you.

In addition to seeking in the Bible, and praying, read stories of the lives of the Saints. You will find that while many of the Saints were extremely poor, or embraced poverty (St. Francis, perhaps Mother Teresa soon) others were extremely wealthy. Clearly, although wealth can be a trap, and Jesus warns that it is very hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven, riches do not have to be an obstacle to sanctity. The obstacles are found in our hearts - in our pride, our tunnel-vision, our self-love, our greed.

When I was 18, I left home with $50 in my pocket, and worked for 5 years at a homeless shelter, living in the same facilities as the woman and children we served. I was blissfully happy, and knew I was doing God’s will. But as I mentioned, I saw the world in black and white. Bit by bit, God has taught me that there are many kinds of poverty, and many ways to serve the poor.

By an odd twist of “fate,” after I left the shelter, I landed up living with a millionaire widow in a mansion. Really. In a sense, my new home was worlds away from my previous experience. And yet I discovered in the dear lady I lived with an absolutely crippling poverty of lonliness. She could trust no one, simply because she was so wealthy, and she had few friends. LIving with her, I found that trying to show love to this woman was sometimes more difficult, and therefore perhaps more meritiorious, than my blissful years serving the financially poor.

Surely God loves the poor in a special way, but His love has many, many manifestations. Pray to God that He will use you to minister to the poverty you encounter in everyday life–it’s not about guilt trips, or scrupulosity…it’s about seeing His face in each person you meet, whether it’s the bag lady on the street, or the seemingly arrogant businessman at the Metro stop.

 

[Ignatius]

villaneweva:

according to matt 25

In Matthew 25, Jesus says that we have a moral obligation to help those who are hungry, thirsty, and sick.

It was Judas who said that He should have given him the oil so he could “sell it and give it to the poor.” You are imitating Judas with that kind of thinking.

villaneweva:

however, one thing I still wonder about is how we allocate our money. I think every one of us would give our money to a starving child if we saw him on the way to the supermarket, but why don’t we give money to the rest of the starving children in the world? Is it simply because of the distance?

Do you know that Catholic Charities is one of the first on the scene of any disaster? Catholic Charities feeds and cloths millions all over the world.

And say we did dismantle all of the churches, which were built with the sweat equity of the people for the glory of God, just how long do you think that would feed the hungry? It would be no more than a few weeks. It would be like the foolish men who killed the goose that lays golden eggs. The work of the Church continues to care for poor in communities all over the world and will as long as the Church is here to do so.

You really need to sit down and think out the potential unintended consequences of your ideas.