Compassion Corps

Lately, I have made it a point to write about topics related to the Lenten season.  Today I want to highlight the discipline of giving alms.  Understood in the traditional sense: giving alms is simply giving to the poor.   This discipline is a call to self denial!  It is a call to STOP investing in our own perceived needs.  It is a call to get involved in the real needs of those who are struggling or marginalized in some significant way.  The people I am talking about are our neighbors facing foreclosure, a dad who just lost his job, a family struggling to keep the lights on, or even the homeless individual who was turned away from the overcrowded, underfunded shelter in our city.  Will we hear their cry and respond to the need?

Like Isaiah [6:8], for those of you who dare say to our Lord: “Here am I send me!”  Let me give you some practical suggestions on how you can BE the difference in the life of someone in need!

1. Give.  From now until Easter stop buying the little things.  Coffee, Fast Food, I-Tunes etc.  Then, take the proceeds you were already going to spend and invest them in your local food pantry, homeless shelter, battered woman’s home or specific church outreach reaching the poor.  You have the means to FUND something of SIGNIFICANCE!

2. When you pack your lunch (b/c your not eating out) pack an extra bag.  So, today when you drive by a homeless person in obvious need you have something practical to give.  What is more encouraging when your homeless and hungry then a homemade lunch with a note tucked inside!

3. Call an inner-city school or local juvenile detention center and find out if you can be a volunteer tutor for an at risk youth from now until the end of the semester.  There are programs like this in every major city – but few volunteers.  My mother does this and she loves it.

4. Find someone in your office, neighborhood, church or school who is hurting.  Inquire as to how you can help and make a significant investment of your time, talents, or treasure.  This will not only affect the receipent but will change your life as well.

This is not an exhaustive list – but a beginning point to help you think outside the box and find ways to invest [what you have] in the life of someone in need!

Blessings to you on this Lenten journey…

The Lenten season, which is traditionally understood to be a time of self-denial, is also marked by a period of intense prayer, fasting, and alms giving (giving to the poor).  Christians are encouraged to think less of themselves and more about their relationship with God and their neighbor [Mt. 22:37-40]. As I have taken time to reflect on Christ, using a variety of tools like prayer, quiet reflection, journaling & group discussion, I have come to realize (again) that Christ is the perfect example of selflessness and self-sacrifice.

During my Lenten journey, if I am completly honest, I have used this first week as a period of self evaluation.  How do I measure up to Christ’s example?  How is my relationship with Christ and do I really love my neighbor?  Finally – where are the “weak spots” of my life?  As I have reflected on Christ, His life, and that of His Mother Mary, I have come to realize that my achilles heal is selfishness.  Moreover, it is not the bold, outright, ugly selfishness that is easy to detect and repent of that worries me…but the kind which lies right underneath the surface.  The kind that is hard to detect, remains hidden, and has a suttle but strong influcence over my daily actions.  This “second” selfishness is what I have become aware of during my Lenten Fast…and now it is what I am trying to get rid of.

While reflecting on the life of Christ – it was hard NOT to see my own hidden, selfishness and then become convicted by my acceptance of it.  Born vunerable, through the womb of Mary, outside the palace walls (his rightful home) and in a simple manger.  Jesus was hunted by Harod because of his “royal” linage, driven from his homeland and lived as an alien in Egypt.  He fully embraced a life of poverty, homelessness, and rejection by his own.  Jesus regularly extended his hand of mercy without the hope of earthly gain, recognition or fame.  It is said of Jesus: “He, who was of no sin, became sin for us”.  Reconcilling man to God – through his death, burial, and resurrection.  He is the example of selflessness – a life worthy of imitation.

And what about Mary.  Talk about selflessness.  She said YES!  She said YES to God.  The story about her within the first chapter of Luke is amazing enough.  But that is not all.  She not only said YES to God, but she had to take heat from everyone else.  She was young, a virgin, and about to be married.  Then, BOOM, she gets pregnant via the Holy Spirit.  Explain that to your fianc’ee, Joseph, your parents, his parents, your extended family and probably the entire community [as they were much more involved and interdependant than we are today].  Then, knowing who she was carrying  Mary had to be a parent to the child Jesus [figure that out].  From beginning to the end – Mary said yes, sacrificed her wants and desires on the alter…all for God.  She gave everything – she withheld nothing!  And what was the fruit?  The savior of the world.

I can only hope that in a similar way I can sacrifice myself on the alter of God for the sake of my marriage, my children, my neighbors, the community where I live, and the life He has called US to live.  The question today is, “Will we [all of us] have the courage to do the same?”

Be compassionate, take action, and sacrifice yourself.  Then and only then will we bear fruit!

“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

- John 12:24