Deeds More Than Words

"Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening life in me." St. Ignatius of Loyola

I took my students recently to the charitable work where I have been volunteering for years. Most had never been there before nor had some of them done anything like that type of work before either. Most of the group is not religious let alone Catholic. It is not important to me. We have work to do and cooking, preparing and serving meals are priorities. After the center closes, we need to clean up, and I saw the attention paid to detail. It was more than impressive. I was in awe of the students, and the organizers of the center are also impressed always.

“The important thing is to do charity, not to talk about charity. We must understand the work with very poor people as a God’s chosen mission.” Irmã Dulce Lopes Pontes

Sister Irma was born in Salvador, Brazil. Her mother died when she was young and her aunt brought her to a poor area of the city. She was determined to help others and that is what she did. She worked hard and the results came to fruition. She was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI. St. Cajetan is the patron saint for the unemployed. The son of a nobleman, he founded a charitable nonprofit bank designed to protect the poor from usury. He sought to save souls through living a moral life, sacred studies, preaching and tending to the sick and the poor. There are countless examples of great saints doing great things. It is important to note that we are not social service workers. We are following Christ and that is our main focus.

St. Vincent de Paul: "Love ought to consist of deeds more than of words." He taught that when you help the poor, you are caring for Jesus himself.

We are not simply do-gooders. Living by example while we help others is like a perfume as the Carmelite friends I know remind me all the time. Christ is like that fragrance who continues to pervade our lives and others will see it. Recently we had some international students arrive and it is clear they are searching for more – not just lessons. They are looking for meaning. How can we offer that? We do not stand on a soap box. We simply live our lives. My friends in the cloister live their lives and their morning mass is full of attendees. People will see it. Hopefully, others will see it too.

“There should be no delay between your intention and your good deed.”  St. Gregory of Nazianzen

“Charity is certainly greater than any rule.”  St. Vincent de Paul