Helping Others helps us too

A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship. And he who plants kindness gathers love. Saint Basil

My parents’ furnace conked out in the middle of winter. I had just visited them, and I went back to my own city which is not that far away. Winter nights can get cold here but thankfully we were enjoying a warm spell. My mom had put in a call to the repair person who did not show. Then, I needed to move fast. It was difficult to get a hold of someone since it was a Sunday night. There was a bit of urgency as I called around, but someone arrived at the house before it got cold again. This person was very helpful and professional. I was relieved.

How often do we not want to go out of our way to help another? Yes, these people were my parents, but we meet people every day who need a hand. During the pandemic, many seniors were housebound. Many of them were forgotten - not just with groceries but in need of companionship. It is easy to overlook those in need around us. It is not someone else’s problem.

St. Padre Pio reminded us, “You need to hold fast to two virtues: kindness toward your neighbour and humility toward God.”

Wise words to remember. So many saints lived their lives with such joy that it amazes each time I read about them. Recently, someone on social media that I follow posted about St. Dulce of the Poor in Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. Of course, I needed to google this person because so many saints, although canonized, are not so well-known. When Maria (St. Dulce) was 13, her aunt showed her the poverty in the region. She began to help them by giving them free haircuts and treating their injuries. As she got older, she established the Charitable Works Foundation of St. Irma Dulce. She said, “People who spread love do not have time to throw stones.” Pope John Paul II visited her while she was sick and in hospital. I need to be reminded often that I cannot think of myself. It is easy to criticize and expect others to get their hands dirty; but it takes work to help another in need. Kindness is never forgotten, and I do not speak about some sentimental kindness or being nice. I think it is very important to see the needs of others around us. We can respond how we are able.

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by kindly words; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” Said St. Therese of Lisieux. She spent much of her life in the convent in poor health, yet she never thought of herself first. Incredible! We have all seen images of Mother Teresa and her work in Kolkata. But I would submit that we do not need to look for examples of kindness and helping others from halfway around the world. We need to look in our own backyards.

Charitable work involves more than cooking in a soup kitchen or collecting cans for the needy. Servant of God, Luigi Giussani, found of the Catholic Movement Communion and Liberation, wrote about Charitable work. “To be interested in others, to communicate to others, enables us to fulfill the supreme and, indeed, the only task in life: to become ourselves, to complete ourselves......But it is Christ who has enabled us to understand the ultimate reason for this, ......We do charitable work in order to live like Christ." wrote Luigi Giussani in The Meaning of Charitable Work. We are not only volunteering for the poor or for some organization, but we are also learning more about ourselves. Giussani's words struck me because I find from my experience that helping others encourages me to reflect on what I want and who I am in front of Christ. I have seen the same people coming for a meal for a long time. I could easily be discouraged and say nothing has changed. But it is not for me to decide that. Helping others in need is so important but never easy to do. We can become disillusioned. We continue knowing that Christ moves with us.

“Charity is that with which no man is lost and without which no man is saved.” St. Robert Bellarmine