Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fr. Anthony Brankin
One of the things we learned in the seminary as a point of moral theology is that charity is not binding. That does not mean that we do not need charity—or the virtue of charity—or the love of God in our souls—or the love of neighbor in our deeds to be saved. We do. Charity is the means of our Salvation. That is pretty binding and important. However we were given to understand that in this or that particular situation—a person may act charitably, but he or she is not obliged to act charitably—at least in a particular instance. (That does not mean we can act uncharitably. It only means that we are not obliged to do this or that particular good deed, as long as the omission of that good deed does not cause harm.)
Actually, when you think about it—it makes a lot of sense, at least if we understand that while charity may not be binding, justice is binding. In other words—if we owe something to someone—perhaps money—maybe a debt—perhaps the fulfillment of a promise—justice demands that we fulfill that obligation. And not to fulfill it—is a sin. It is a sin against justice—it is a sin against the person to whom we owe something. This is most obvious when we talk about violations of the Seventh commandment, which forbids us to steal—or cheat or defraud or destroy. But sins against justice can happen in many ways and against other commandments.
Sins against justice
Perhaps a sin against justice would involve the Fifth commandment. For example a baby is born to a mother and father. In justice they owe that child (whom they brought into the world) care and nurture and a good upbringing. A mother cannot hand her child off to strangers and say, “Here you take care of him.” She owes that child life and love and care. No exceptions. She owes it in justice to that baby whom she conceived and brought into the world. To withhold a mother’s care intentionally would thus violate the Fifth commandment. A father cannot just up and leave and tell the mother “It’s yours. I have my life to live.” Oh no. In justice he owes the mother and child support and help and his very presence and protection. He owes his family his being a man. In justice he owes them his life. Not to care for his family is a violation of the Fifth commandment.
Perhaps a sin against justice could involve even the First commandment where we owe the Creator our worship and adoration and prayer. In justice—we are bound to offer our obedience and ourselves to the One who created us. We owe Him everything. Sins against the First Commandment—like the sin of superstition—in the use of Ouija boards— séances—fortune telling—psychics—are sins against justice because they give honor to fallen angels instead of the Creator—to whom we owe our adoration. This is a matter of justice.
We can also offend against justice when we violate the Sixth commandment which bids us to respect and reverence the way God has made us—male and female—to be united to each other in a special bond for life and for the purpose of having children. As Our Lord tells us It is for this reason a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife—and the two of them become one. Thus let no man separate what God has joined. So it is clear that God has established the sexual order. To go outside of those boundaries is to refuse God’s will for maleness and femaleness. In justice we owe God and other people a proper use of our bodies. We are—in justice— bound to be pure.
Justice is binding
I could go on and on. But you see the point. Justice is binding. If God says that this is what we must do and how we must do it—that is the proper order in our lives and in the universe—that is a condition of justice. And to offend against this order is a sin against justice.
So how is it that charity may not be binding? Again, this does not mean that we can omit good deeds—acts of love or love of God and neighbor. This is the first thing God wants us to do. He wants us to be charitable and loving. That is what all this talk about mercy is—an appeal to be kind and to do kind things. We must be merciful as God is merciful. God wants us to love—to be full of charity—the two Great commandments are that we must love God above all things—and the second is that we must love our neighbor as we love ourselves. On these two commandments all the law is based. You cannot get around it.
However—it is the individual, practical applications of this love of neighbor that are not binding—precisely because— in a concrete situation—if I am forced to love—if I am constrained to do a kind deed, if I am directed under pain of sin to be charitable—then ironically—I am not being charitable. I am simply obeying. (This, of course, implies that no evil directly results from my omission of a kind deed.) Charity is a free act of the free will—by which—out of my mind and heart—without external coercion—I choose to do good for another person. If I am forced to do good in this or that instance—where is there virtue in that? How is that love? How is that to my credit? I had to do it. If I did not do it—it would be a sin. If I should give five or ten or twenty dollars to one of the parish beggars who comes to the door and asks for it—if I give that money to him because it would be a sin not to give him—how is that a free act of love? He might as well have a gun to my head—only this time I am just trying to avoid sin.
Charity must be freely chosen
So! Charity—in order to be a freely chosen act of love—cannot be binding under pain of sin. We must be able – at least in individual circumstances, to refuse to do charity—or it is not charity. Just because someone says they need our help we do not have to help. It might be a scam or a tissue of lies or a campaign of misdirection. We need to discern these things—we cannot go off willy-nilly giving everyone everything they ask for. And of course so many of these sharpies—the big charitable institutions, religious charlatans—even religious fanatics know exactly how we can be manipulated. That is why they so often appeal to our Christian sensitivities to make us guilty. We hear all the time from scammers and atheists and frauds who want to bend us to their will about how this or that is the “Christian thing to do.” How dare they!
I think in particular right now of the hundreds of thousands—soon to be millions—of so-called refugees who are pouring into Europe—just marching right in. It is called the “hijra”—which is the Muslim word for when a whole Muslim population just simply walks in to replace a Christian population. They did it in the Seventh Century and took Jerusalem and the Near East from the Christians. They did it in Fifteenth Century when they conquered Constantinople (Istanbul). They just move right in and replace the now-terrorized inhabitants of the land they desire. If it includes military might— so be it. Make no mistake about it—this, they believe, is their destiny—and the ultimate prize, the Final Hijra, this time, is Rome.
As Muslims, they know enough about us to appeal to our Christianity and our desire to help those in need. “You have to take us in. You are Christians. You have to be merciful to us.” But just because they say they are in dire need—that does not mean they are. That does not mean that we have to respond the way they want us to. Take a look at the newsreels. Surely you will see the occasional family and mother and children. But you also notice that the vast majority of these hundreds of thousands of refugees are strong young men in nice sports clothes taking selfies— shouting and screaming and throwing rocks and slapping each other on the back. They are having a great time as they invade Europe.
Keep a Christian Culture
Now the Hungarians and the Poles and the Czechs—who have suffered for a thousand years at the hands of Turkish Muslim—even the bishops and politicians—know that this horde pouring in to Europe simply wants to come to Christian Europe to dominate and recreate their Muslim culture here. The Eastern Christian Europeans have no desire—nor do they feel any obligation—to surrender their country and their Christian culture to the marching millions. They know that if they let the Muslims in—then they put their faith and culture and families in jeopardy. To deny Muslims entry is a matter of justice—to their own people. The Hungarians do not owe Muslims this charity—because it is a false charity and sins against justice. Of course all the masons and atheists who run western Europe—and who haven’t seen the inside of a church since Vatican II—condemn the Eastern Europeans for their so-called lack of Christian charity.
I am sorry. Charity in this case is not binding—because coercion and lies and allowing ourselves to be manipulated by sharpies and Masons and Muslims is not charity. And woe to those Western European leaders of Germany, Belgium, Sweden who are going to destroy what remains of the old Christian order just to get more cheap workers into Germany and Sweden. And why would they feel they have to do this? Because the Europeans don’t have children anymore. They need somebody to do the work. So in order to maintain their standard of living—they risk destroying whatever is left of their Christian culture and they welcome the Islamic hordes from Turkey all in the name of “charity.” (Every parish in western Europe has been asked to house a Muslim family—for how long and under what conditions we could ask. And how might a Christian family respond if a young single Muslim man shows up at our door and tells us his wife is coming next week. Are those Catholics in Europe obliged in charity and under pain of sin to take him in? And they do not even know him?)
So we can see how justice is binding—but charity is not—insofar as we are discussing individual acts of charity. We cannot be forced—either out of guilt or out of a false sense of compassion to doubtful acts of love. Otherwise it is not love. We need to be careful that our acts of charity—should we choose to perform them—will not harm others—including our families—or our countries or cultures—or our Christian brothers and sisters. In justice and under pain of sin we owe our families and our neighbors their safety and the unhindered living of their Christian faith. We need to pray for Europe (that’s an act of charity). I don’t think they have much time left. So many of them— including their clerics and prelates have lost the faith—and now it seems they will be replaced by another population that is much more serious about its beliefs than the Europeans have been in a long time. May they wake up—and may they will realize that charity is not as binding as justice is. And may they understand that in order to save whatever Christianity they have left—they may have to exercise a lot more justice and a little less (false) charity.