“It is interesting to note that when people do works of charity, they require that the poor they help be destitute. Actually, in our country, very few people are destitute, but many live right on the margin of destitution, with little or no security and very few frills. Some will say, “Who needs frills?” We all need a few, and I mean need. I love to give presents to poor children and poor old people. They’re not starving but few have ever given them something just because they are themselves. Is it really a frill for a child whose mother is on welfare to get a Christmas present, which she could not possibly afford to buy?
Do you want to have a great Lent? Tip the gas station attendant who doesn’t speak English. Tell the newsboy to keep the change, with a smile. Buy a cup of coffee and a doughnut for the fellow collecting aluminum cans to trade in.
Or go first-class. Send a poor child to Catholic school. Help an old lady on Social Security get her medication every month. Tell her you can get it at a discount, and just take a dollar to make her feel that she’s paying for it. She’s getting it at a discount from you.
Lent may be a time of penance, but if you are generous with the frills for God, then you will know that you have brought a smile to the face of Jesus Christ. Happy Lent.”
The King Crucified and Risen – Daily readings from Ash Wednesday to Divine Mercy Sunday, by Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R.
I like most all of Fr. Groeschel’s books; this is an excerpt from his daily reader for Lent, and I highly recommend it.
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I didn't see this before, so my comment is late.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Lenten suggestions....very practical great ideas.
Google Reader picks up your posts for me, and I see that you're just writing up a blizzard. You are a prolific writer/reader/teacher, etc., etc.
I wonder what your Chinese follower said: Do you have a way to translate it? He has commented previously, I noticed.
Sorry I haven't had time to respond to your email yet. My days get gobbled up.