Charity practised in works

My little children, says St. John, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and in truth-(1 John iii. 18). Some say they sincerely love their neighbours, but they will not submit to inconvenience for the sake of any of them. To fulfil the precept of charity it is not enough to love our neighbour in words; we must love him in deed and in truth.

I. Some say they sincerely love all their neighbours, but they will not put themselves to inconvenience for the sake of any of them. My little children, says St. John, let us not love in word, nor in tongue, but in deed and truth. The Scripture tells us that alms deliver men from death, cleanse them from sin, and obtain for them the Divine mercy and eternal life. Alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting-(Tob. xii. 9).

God will relieve you in the same manner in which you give relief to your neighbour. With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again-(Matth. vii. 2). Hence St. John Chrysostom says that the exercise of charity to others is the means of acquiring great gain with God. “Alms is, of all acts, the most lucrative.” And St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi used to say that she felt more happy in relieving her neighbour than when she was wrapt in contemplation. “Because,” she would add, “when I am in contemplation God assists me; but in giving relief to a neighbour I assist God”; for, every act of charity we exercise towards our neighbour, God accepts as done to Himself. But, on the other hand, as St. John says, can he who does not assist a brother in want be said to love God? He that hath the substance of this world, and shall see his brother in need, and shall shut up his bowels from him, how doth the charity of God abide in him?-(l John iii. 17). By alms is understood not only the distribution of money and other goods, but every succour given to a neighbour in order to relieve his wants. It is related of St. Teresa that she was accustomed to perform every day some act of charity towards her sisters in Religion, and whenever she was unable to do so during the day she would be careful at night to show light to the sisters who might be passing in the dark before her cell. The Saints were full of charity and compassion to all who required their assistance. The just are merciful and show mercy-(Prov. xiii. 13).

II. The exercise of special charity towards the sick is also very pleasing to God. Serving them has far greater merit than serving those who are in health. The sick stand in greater need of assistance than those who are well. They are afflicted by pain, melancholy, and the fear of death, and are sometimes even abandoned by all. Oh, how pleasing it is to God to labour to console them in their afflictions! St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi assisted and served the sick, and desired to live in some hospital in order to be always employed in an office so pleasing to God. “If you wish to know,” Father Anthony Torres used to say, “whether the Spirit of God reigns in a community, ask how the sick are treated.” All who tend to perfection practise charity towards the sick. Be careful, then, to relieve the sick by alms, or by little presents, and to serve them as well as you can, at least by endeavouring to console them by your words, by exhortations to practise resignation to God’s will, and to offer Him all their sufferings. Do not look for thanks; but bear with their complaints, impatience, and rudeness. The Lord Himself will reward your charity. It is related in the Chronicles of the Teresians that Sr. Isabella of the Angels was seen ascending to Heaven immediately after death and carried by Angels amid great splendour. She said to a Religious to whom she appeared afterwards that God had bestowed that glory on her for her charity towards the sick.