In the last issue I began sharing some information about St. John’s 16th Step, AVARICE. John shares that the first principle of Christian charity is that we should give in accordance with our ability. In our modern world, however, people tend to think of luxuries as necessities. People think that they need to eat extremely well, that they really do need that expensive pair of shoes, or that they need to have abundant savings for a rainy day. This temptation is often worse for those with children. Obviously married people need to provide for their children’s needs, but it is a great temptation for them to use the love of their children as an excuse to satisfy a desire for a luxurious and privileged lifestyle. It can also lead to spoiling our children rotten.

John warns us that even the idea of charity – the desire to have plenty in order to give to others – can be little more than an excuse for avarice.

The more we love our neighbor as ourselves – the more, in other words, we feel the needs of others as though they are our own – the less inclined we will be to consider our luxuries as more important than our neighbor’s basic needs. One author expressed it in this way, “The more you abound in wealth, the more you lack in love”.

The problem, I believe, that we face in our modern world with regard to charity is that we daily hear in the news of the dishonesty of so many people. We are constantly bombarded with news about people who have defrauded others. We constantly hear of the dishonesty of others, even those who do have society’s trust. Think about the scandals we read about in our own area. Most people don’t feel that they can be genuinely charitable to others. Somehow, even with the challenge that this presents, we are called to be charitable.