When charity goes too far

[nuntym]

+JMJ+

I have never ever heard that. When Christ was asked “Who is my neighbor?” He told the story of the Good Samaritan. The Good Samaritan was not close to the victim of the robbers in any way, but he is our prototypical example of a neighbor.

On the contrary, the Good Samaritan was close to the victim: he met him on the way.

Each and every person you meet, since you got close to him/her, is your neighbor. That is why Christianity is so hard, and so different from philanthropy: Philanthropy is the loving of humanity and thus impersonal, but Christianity is about the loving of humans and thus personal, “in your face”.

But there will be some neighbors that will always be nearer to us than others. And yet this does not exempt us from loving only those nearest to us and disregarding all our other neighbors.

 

[jonathan_hili]

Yes, at what point do we cross the line… Is there even a line?

I personally believe that there is a definant line, and that line lies where the four Cardinal Virtues and the remaining two Theological virtues are overstepped by the Virtue of Love or “charity”. I believe in striving for perfect balance between all seven -and that focusing too heavily on any one of them is neglecting the others… This, I think, is the point where sin begins.

An I right or am I wrong…?

Hi,

I think what you say is essentially valid, but it’s important to keep a couple of points in mind:

• Charity - or agape - is not equivalent to a moderation of virtues. It goes beyond moderation. God-love in our lives is immoderate, it is daring, risky, sometimes seemingly foolish, but this is how God loves us. As such, it is difficult to pine down any “line” where charity ends because charity dares to step over the line! After all, wouldn’t we consider God dying on a cross for a bunch of sinners overstepping things a little? Of course, this is not to say that the other virtues don’t play their part, they do. We often try to disguise real charity with a shallower form of charity. For instance, if I see a homeless person on the street, the temptation is just to give him some money. Is this charitable? Sure, to a point. But that’s all it is - to a point! Real charity goes further: it reaches out to the man, picks him up, speaks to him, ministers to him as a human being. I think this is where we, as Catholics, can really learn to do better. We sometimes limit charity to just giving out money which, though useful in some circumstances, is really easy for us to do if we are well off. What about we do something more difficult and actually gasp get to know our poorer neighbour?
• As for the perfect balance between all of the seven virtues, well, I think charity trumps them, but not in a way that the others are negated. Charity is “first among equals” as it were.

What do you think?

Jonathan

 

[DavidWJackson]

No! Charity, properly understood, can never be overdone. There can never be a true conflict between charity and any other virtue, human, cardinal, theological, or whatever.

Because God is love and God infinite.

It seems to me that many here do not understand the dettinitions of the two words “properly” and “understood”. Which leads me to believe that many here also do not even understand the foundation of the Universal Christian faith. It’s as if a darkness has crept into their lives with the intention of destroying or at the very least causing one to avoid the act of charity. There is no limit to charity, as God wishes it, in this life or the life to come.
And, charity begins at home. This I say for the ignorant that believe they must be charitable to the point of destroying those they swore to provide for in good health and bad, so long as they live. This kind of darkness that has come down upon us must surly be an abomination before God. Love is and comes from God. How can one truly be acting in charity if they are destorying another they love. Charity by no means is defined by solving another ones problems. It is defined as: loving another, leniency in judging, generosity toward the needy, the help given another.