Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta well-summarized a life in Christ when she said, “I can’t help thousands, I can only help the one who stands before me.” So too can it be said of the Catholic Charity Appeal, under way in the Diocese of Providence. Through the generosity of the faithful, there is no claim that everyone in need in our state will be served. However, those who stand in the doorways of the numerous ministries funded in part by the annual campaign will be helped.
Through spiritual support, educational needs and social outreach, the hands of Christ are at work through the hands of so many. As a tool for evangelization, many who are served may not even claim to be followers of Christ, but through these ministries encounter Christ in the Catholic Church.
For those who cannot engage the poor and the needy directly, prayerful donations to the Catholic Charity Appeal allow them to assist in the work of Christ by supporting those on the front lines. The campaign is appropriately conducted in Lent — the season of almsgiving, prayer and fasting — so that all in the Church may embrace the call to serve those in need with a preferential option for our poor.
In the words of St. Vincent DePaul, servant of the poor, “charity is the cement that binds communities to God and persons to one another.” Inasmuch as service to the poor helps the less fortunate in meeting their temporal needs, it also assists the generous in their journey to salvation and unites the faithful in their common call to discipleship. Pray for success of this year’s Catholic Charity Campaign.
