Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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Do not overlook the “invisible poor”

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Do not overlook the "invisible poor"

If you want to hide something that is morally evil, give it a good name. Collateral damage means innocent bystanders who were killed in a military or terrorist attack; expendable refers to lives that may be sacrificed as inevitably necessary to achieve an objective. They are euphemisms for the belief that human beings are disposable.

Such labels let us avert our eyes from the intolerable, perhaps to avoid being overwhelmed by the immensity of a situation that seems beyond solution; or, as a way of sloughing off an evil occurrence as “not my concern” — someone else’s problem. The media talks about the “invisible poor.” Poor people are not invisible. We just avoid looking at them. It is unpleasant to look at the beggar standing at the stoplight, so we look away.

Most of us live in a sanitized culture. We seek to make life less offensive by eliminating anything objectionable, unwholesome, soiled, odoriferous and disagreeable, including, of course, people who fall in these categories.

Pope Francis speaks of this phenomenon as “global indifference,” explaining that, “… without being aware of it, we end up being incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor, weeping for other people’s pain, and feeling a need to help them, as though they were someone else’s responsibility and not our own.” (Evangelii Gaudium 54). It’s nothing new. The first recorded instance is found in the Book of Genesis, “Then the LORD asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9)

It is overwhelming. Multiply the beggar on the corner, the migrant refugees at the border, the homeless sleeping beneath the bridge by the millions. Then include Syrian refugees by the hundreds of thousands in Turkey, the desperate people clinging to boats that are more flotsam and jetsam than vessels, crossing the Mediterranean seeking refuge and a new life in Europe.

Do not overlook those invisible poor who live around the corner or on the other side of town; those who go to bed hungry every night; those who are abused physically, sexually and emotionally; those who are alone and helpless whose lives are lived in fear.

I pray that you will be moved to help those desperate ones, whether they are Catholic or not, because we are all precious children of God. Give them hope. You may donate online to Catholic Charities Dallas and Catholic Relief Services.   Through these agencies you can not only see the poorest among us but you can reach out your hand in loving assistance in Christ’s name.

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Image credit: Janis K. on Flickr

 

True Fasting

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The Hand

Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose:
releasing those bound unjustly,
untying the thongs of the yoke;
Setting free the oppressed,
breaking off every yoke?

Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry,
bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house;
Clothing the naked when you see them,
and not turning your back on your own flesh?

Isaiah 58:6-7

True Charity is more than almsgiving.

In a recent homily Pope Francis cautioned against formal observances and rituals that are not accompanied by an interior change of heart. The Holy Father cautioned that “Christianity is not a repository of formal observances for people who put on a hypocritical good appearance to conceal their hearts empty of charity.”

Christianity, he continued, “is showing the flesh of Jesus who bends down without shame in front of whoever is suffering.” Not like the Pharisees who transformed religious life into an ethic. The Holy Father added, “These hypocritical people are good persons. They do all they should do. They seem good. But they are ethicists without goodness because they have lost the sense of belonging to a people! Our Lord gives us salvation through belonging to a people.”

True charity or fasting, the Pope said, means breaking the chains of evil, freeing the oppressed, sharing our bread with the hungry, opening our houses to the homeless and clothing the naked, adding “This is the charity that our Lord wants, charity that is concerned about the life of our brother.”

When giving alms, the Pope suggested, “Do I drop the coin without touching the hand of the beggar? And if, by chance, I do touch it do I immediately withdraw it?” Can I look into the beggar’s eyes and see Jesus?

We must guard against empty ritual, keeping in mind that “It is the love of Christ that motivates us,” (2 Cor 5:14) and not merely a sense of duty or obligation.

Charity is the heart of Christian life

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Being a Christian is not determined by what we do, but by what we are. A Christian is a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ. Because we have chosen to become His disciples we accept and follow his teachings and strive to pattern our lives on His which is the manifestation of the Father’s healing and forgiving love for us. (John 14:9). So as St. Paul reminds us it is…”the love of Christ compels us.” (2 Cor. 5:14)

Pope Benedict XVI uses the occasion of his Lenten Message to remind us of this important fact…”we must reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: Charity.” The Holy Father draws from the Letter to the Hebrews (10:24) “Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works,” and not to be isolated and indifferent to the fate of our brothers and sisters.

“All too often, the Pope continues, “our attitude is just the opposite: an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for ‘privacy.'” Quoting from Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio (1966) he observes that: “Human society is sorely ill. The cause is not so much the depletion of natural resources, nor the monopolistic control by a privileged few; it is rather the weakening of brotherly ties between individuals and nations.”

Surely we see the word’s of Pope Paul lived out in our world today…in the tragic killings of innocent people, in the international discord with war and threats of war becoming a way of life, in the polarization that is wounding the Church and in families devastated by brokenness. We have spoken often of the lack of civility today and we have witnessed the inflammatory and destructive rhetoric in our political process.

Charity is more than generous giving. It is generous living. The Pope reminds us that: “Sacred Scripture warns us of the danger that our hearts can become hardened by a sort of ‘spiritual anesthesia’ which numbs us to the suffering of others…we should never be incapable of ‘showing mercy’ towards those who suffer.”

The Holy Father also identifies “fraternal correction in view of eternal salvation” as an important aspect of Christian charity that is often overlooked. Fraternal correction is not ridiculing or demonizing but loving correction. He reminds us of Proverbs (9:8ff) “Rebuke the wise and he will love you for it. Be open with the wise, he grows wiser still, teach the upright, he will gain yet more.”

Institutionally this is the prophetic role of the Church, to speak out against infringements upon human dignity and religious freedom by the government or international bodies. For bishops, pastors and parents, it means preaching and teaching by word and by witness and always in charity.

We all recognize that loving criticism of our children helps them grow into responsible adults, yet we are often reluctant to lovingly correct our peers. I might add that the corollary to this is to accept loving criticism recalling the old adage that “your best friend is your severest critic.”

In striving to become disciples of Jesus we bring our gifts but we also bring our weaknesses, for Scripture reminds us that “even the upright fall.” In Charity we must not only support each others gifts, but help each other in our weaknesses.

Our journey to God is a journey together.

Poverty is not just an issue…it is people

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Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York recently wrote in his blog “there is too much rhetoric in the country that portrays poor people in a very negative way.” People are not poor by choice, they are poor by circumstance and the circumstances are generally beyond their control. Poverty is a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.
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