Learning From Our Children
A middle-school girl knew there were students in her community who didn’t have the school supplies they needed. She started a backpack/supply drive and before school began, she was ready to distribute enough filled backpacks to all the kids who needed them. High school students supported a classmate with cancer by selling T-shirts, bracelets, and holding a fund-raiser to help with expenses related to his treatment. A little girl whose dad is leaving for his fourth deployment overseas has an ongoing project to send care packages to soldiers. Youngsters ask their birthday party guests to bring donations for a food bank or a homeless shelter rather than gifts.
Although each of these charitable efforts is unique, these young people all have something in common. They learn about a need and figure out what they can do to meet it, whether it’s in their neighborhood or halfway around the world. That sense of fairness, that no one should be left out or not be helped, is clear and present in what they are doing.
It’s always fun to share Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan with a group of youngsters. They’re sympathetic to the poor traveler who is beaten and robbed, they nearly boo the two men who ignore and avoid him by walking on the other side of the road, and there are cheers for the good man who stops to help, even taking the victim to an inn and paying for his care. They know who did the right thing, and when Jesus asks who was a neighbor to this man, they answer without hesitation, “The one who helped him!” Kids get it.
Considering that over the last few weeks every news report we see or hear is filled with one natural disaster after another, from wildfires to hurricanes to earthquakes, many of us are starting to feel “catastrophe fatigue.” And with every one of these reports we hear of the need to give aid to the people whose homes and lives have been burned, flooded, or shattered. There are times when we’re glad for the large relief organizations, through which we can at least provide monetary support. But other times we feel as though we’re trying to empty the ocean with a teacup, and wonder whether that modest (or even generous) donation will go very far toward making a difference.
The Gospel of Matthew is filled with teachings and parables from Jesus’ earthly ministry, as he taught his listeners with examples from their everyday lives. In Chapter 25, when he describes the final judgment, those who cared for the hungry, the sick, or the strangers learn they were caring for Christ himself. “. . . just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.”
As we look for ways to help, let’s not be daunted or discouraged at the enormity of the task. Our Lord himself has told us that what we do for anyone in need, we do it for him. Whatever we do in his name, we are doing what we are called to do.
Your friend in Christ,
Mary Rogers