Pastoral Message
On Caritas Sunday —April
12, 1992
“Give and Give Generously Until It Hurts
to People in Need”
Circular No. 92-17; Series of 1992
March 27, 1992
To my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:
On top of today’s gospel, I
would like you to consider and reflect on Mark, chapter 12, verses 41 to 44:
“Taking a seat opposite the
treasury, he observed the crowd putting money into the collection box. Many of
the wealthy put in sizeable amounts; but one poor widow came and put in two
small copper coins worth a few cents. He called his disciples over and told
them: I want you to observe that this poor widow contributed more than all the
others who donated to the treasury. They gave from their surplus wealth, but
she gave from her want, all that she had to live on.”
The above reading reminds me
of a story told about the late Cardinal Hoffinger of Germany. Right after World War II, when Germany was in the initial stages of its recovery from the devastation of the war, the Rev. Hoffinger,
then still a lowly bishop, came under heavy criticism from his suffering people
for being too generous with his aid to the suffering people of an equally
war-devastated Japan. His quiet response was simple. He said: “To give of
one’s surplus is easy. To give of one’s substance, of one’s wants, is the mark
of true Christian charity.” After this, his people shared of their substance
more generously.
From the two stories, one
scriptural and the other apocryphal, we can learn to see what is pleasing to
God and what we ought to do.
During this season of Lent,
especially this CARITAS SUNDAY, give and give generously... until it hurts, to
people in need. CARITAS MANILA, the social welfare and development agency of
the people of God in Manila, is our instrument in reaching out to others in need.
Give totally of yourself... of
your substance... for the measure you measure out is the measure by which you
will be measured.
(SGD.) + Jaime L. Cardinal Sin, D.D.
Archbishop of Manila
