As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace (1Pt 4:10).
Jesus taught that the
fulfillment of “the Law” lies
in worship and charity – the love of God, and the love of neighbor:
(Mk 12:30-31).
Scripture
is rich and varied in its presentation of philanthropy.
Critical to the teaching of such stories is the idea of choice. Take, for example, the story of the Good Samaritan:
Just then a lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? What do you read there?” He answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “Your have given the right answer; do this and your will live.” But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you for whatever more you spend.” Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37).
The story
of the Good Samaritan is not about embracing a juridical imperative to
generosity as laid down in “the Law” – let alone receive something in
return – but is rather the tale of an individual who chose, and kept choosing, to
be a good steward despite burden and risk to himself.
When a member of the priestly tribe of Israel, a Levite, chose to pass by
the injured man – actually to cross to the other side of the road to avoid him
– he made a choice to avoid fulfilling the intent of God’s law.
However, despite belonging to a despised class of un-orthodox believers,
the Samaritan risked ritual uncleanness, scorn, and shunning when he chose to
help the injured man. He did so
first by giving of his
time and talent, bandaging the man’s wounds
and providing the medical care of the day. Then, choosing to set aside whatever
plans he surely had, he invested even more time and spent the whole night caring
for a complete stranger. The next
day, the Samaritan showed yet more generosity, opening his treasure
to ensure that the injured man would continue to have care until he was well,
promising even to ransom him from any debts he might incur during his
recuperation. In thus choosing to
help, the man we remember as the “Good Samaritan” engaged in the fullness of
stewardship: he gave of his time, his talent,
and his treasure in the aid of another, and in so doing, according to the
“expert,” actually fulfilled “the Law.”
Stewardship
is therefore analogous to the ancient Greek concept of philanthropy.
For Greeks, philanthropy was
not restricted to charitable giving but was a virtuous goal which guided
people’s lives and to which the virtuous person aspired.
In this sense, the classical Greek concept of philanthropy, as espoused
by the philosopher Aristotle, shows that when it comes to the love of humanity,
a reasoning society can end up sharing the same values as a religious community.
Without knowing it, Aristotle pointed in his day to the fulfillment of
philanthropy in the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus just as surely as the
Hebrew Scriptures and wisdom literature did. After all, at base, the love of humanity is the a
priori motivation for Christ’s salvific acts of love, and his ultimate
sacrifice. Philanthropy in its
literal and proper sense is the “love of humanity,” and as such it is at the
very heart of each well-formed human soul, and therefore the Church.
It
follows then that as people called to the imitation of Christ, the more
perfectly we embrace the loving intent of the stewardship Jesus described in the
parable of the Good Samaritan, the more Christ-like we become.
The truth is, the more we
enmesh ourselves in the human condition the more likely we are to be charitable.
There is no better place to do this than the Church, which encourages us
to embrace our individual humanity and to place it at the service of all.
Our love
of neighbor is powerful call upon our time, talent, and treasure.
The teachings and tradition of the Church give us the strength and wisdom
to engage fully in humanity, and therefore, to be generous stewards: for we are
called to a higher standard, a higher law – the law of love. This is our
baptismal promise!
An excerpt from Michael
O’Hurley-Pitts, The Passionate Steward (Toronto: St. Brigid Press, 2002), pp. 71-75; reprinted with
permission.
2008
CATHOLIC MINISTRIES APPEAL
Supporting the Community Around Us
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