Spreading the “charity virus ” in community pantries
“FEED the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.” (Isaiah 58:10). When the world stood still due to COVID-19, our common existence and survival demanded that we fight back through our common humanity characterized by Charity. When our cars, jobs, travel and access to shopping and entertainment were all taken away by this pandemic, what are we left with? The answer is EACH OTHER. This is what the emergence of Community Pantries have taught us.
As Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J., inscribes in his “Modern Catholic Dictionary”, CHARITY is the “infused supernatural virtue by which a person loves God above all things for his [that is, God’s] own sake, and loves others for God’s sake.” Like all virtues, charity is an act of the will, and the practice of charity intensifies our love for God and for our each other; but because charity is a gift from God, we cannot initially obtain this virtue by our own actions. Charity relies on faith, because without faith in God we apparently cannot love God, nor can we love our fellowman for God’s sake.
Amidst this Global Health Crisis an OUTBREAK of KINDNESS and CHARITY has transpired in various Community Pantries nationwide. While COVID-19 has affected everyone, what has become increasingly clear are the huge social inequalities in our communities (barangays). However, our neighborhoods have rejected the politics of division and instead have started spreading the “Charity Virus” faster than this infectious disease can incapacitate us. Why is this so?
AN INFECTIOUS VIRUS SPREADS TO HARM, A “CHARITY VIRUS” SPREADS TO EMPOWER – Viruses are like hijackers. They invade living, normal cells and use those cells to multiply and produce other viruses like themselves. This can kill, damage, or change the cells and make us sick. On the other hand, genuine charity uplifts individuals. By demonstrating the importance of others by one’s act of Charity we likewise increase an individual’s sense of self-worth, which will help motivate them to improve one’s life. In a world where everyone is becoming a prey of materialism, everybody is longing for love. It is an emotion that the world relentlessly needs nowadays. Charity is a good way to demonstrate that love still exists. It gives people hope that humanity is still present.
AN INFECTIOUS VIRUS INSTILLS FEAR, A “CHARITY VIRUS” INSPIRES COURAGE – Constant information bombardment on this health crisis has resulted in heightened anxiety, with immediate effects on our mental health. The constant feeling of danger may have other, more deceptive, effects on our consciousness. Due to some deeply evolved responses to COVID-19, fears of this contagion have led us to become more conformist and tribalistic, and less accepting of idiosyncrasy — a path to self-isolation. In Charity however we are motivated to go outside our “comfort zones” and to courageously reach-out to those in need. “True charity requires courage: let us overcome the fear of getting our hands dirty so as to help those in need” (Pope Francis). When our Community Pantry Volunteers selflessly organized these pantries such acts were done in courage defying its possible effects to their personal health.
AN INFECTIOUS VIRUS INCITES ISOLATION, A “CHARITY VIRUS” ENCOURAGES SOLIDARITY – Stigma and bias can transpire when people associate COVID-19 with a particular group (e.g. Medical Frontliners) or individual (e.g. people suspected with the virus), even though not everyone in that particular social segment is specifically at risk for the disease. Stigma can also occur after a person has been released from COVID-19 quarantine even though they are not considered a risk for spreading the virus to others. Charity instead teaches us that the only way to endure this situation is by working together. Pope Francis invites us to live this moment “with penance, compassion and hope”. We need “humility”, our Holy Father explains, “because too often we forget” there are dark times in life as well. “We think they can only happen to someone else. But these times are dark for everyone”, he says. Pope Francis explains that COVID-19 “trains us to show solidarity with others, especially those who suffer”.
Finally, AN INFECTIOUS VIRUS IMPLANTS SORROW, A “CHARITY VIRUS” BRINGS JOY – To date there are almost 400,000+ COVID-19 deaths worldwide, 1,000+ of which would come from the Philippines; and in each and every life lost to this pandemic a great deal of sorrow has been felt by their families and friends. Moreover, strict cremation and burial protocols for COVID-19 deaths have hampered families to properly bid farewell to those they lost to this health crisis. Conversely, Charity is an act that brings Joy. There is an old saying that goes: “If you want Joy for an hour, take a nap. If you want Joy for a day, go fishing. If you want Joy for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want Joy for a lifetime, help somebody.” For decades, the greatest thinkers have suggested the same thing: Joy is found in helping others. “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38).
CHARITY in CRISIS will enable us to surmount this pandemic because greater than any infectious virus is the indomitable “human spirit” which seeks to help one another to overcome any obstacle. As St. Augustine explains, “What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like”. Let’s continue to Spread the Charity Virus, and let this be our true New Normal.
————————-oOo——————————
For any personal comments or suggestions, you may call 0917-4805585 or email me at [email protected].
