Almsgiving This Lent! - Benedict XVI

“I wish to spend some time reflecting on the practice of almsgiving, which represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods,” said Pope Benedict XVI in his Papal Lenten Message this year released on October 22, 2007.

The Pope focuses the attention of the Church with the importance of almsgiving in the life of the Church and in the life of every Catholic.

“Almsgiving helps us to overcome this constant temptation, teaching us to respond to our neighbor’s needs and to share with others whatever we possess through divine goodness,” explained the Pope.

The Pope reminded that “…we are not owners but rather administrators of the goods we possess: these, then, are not to be considered as our exclusive possession, but means through which the Lord calls each one of us to act as a steward of His providence for our neighbor.”

In defining almsgiving he said that it is not a mere philanthropy rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave His entire self for us.

In his message he also reiterated that almsgiving is a work out love. “Every time when, for love of God, we share our goods with our neighbor in need, we discover that the fullness of life comes from love and all is returned to us as a blessing in the form of peace, inner satisfaction and joy,” the Pope added.

The Pope also cited a Biblical passage from the writings of St. Paul saying, “Christ made Himself poor for you,” (2 Cor 8:9). He said that by the passion and death of Christ, He made Himself poor so that He can enrich us out of His poverty and therefore Lent is a time to follow Christ.

“The Lenten practice of almsgiving thus becomes a means to deepen our Christian vocation,” the Pope expressed and that love determines the laws of man’s existence.

The Pope ended his message saying that Lent invites us to train ourselves spiritually through almsgiving so that we can recognize Christ in our life. And he challenged the faithful to let this season be a way to become witnesses of Christ by personal and communal effort.

(Rodney Vertido)