Nowadays, the subject of charity is of great importance and is strongly associated with all charity based on faith, because it is subject to the Covenant of Christ – “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:36).
All the holy fathers, inspired by God, speak of the same thing, namely, of the Truth which saves, giving special importance to charity, and as if in one voice say that salvation is inconceivable without it. This is the Truth of Christ, which we know to be omnipresent, pervasive, unchangeable, not subject to time or to earthly or natural laws, and that it is the only one that leads us to Eternal Life.
Christian charity is a divine manifestation, and only the spiritual man who lives by the grace of the Holy Spirit is truly merciful. That is why in our time some showy doers of good deeds, who participate in large-scale media actions and charity campaigns, cannot be called merciful, but only benefactors, because they claim honors and glory, archon titles, alien to Orthodoxy, and in doing so, they expose themselves by becoming pseudo-benefactors. Mercy is a manifestation of God’s attributes in this world, which says, “I want mercy, not sacrifice” (Matt. 9:13). This explains why only a spiritual person who has true faith and experience in communion with God can be called merciful.
As the Lord said: “When you make alms, do not blow the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that men may praise them. I tell you the truth, they are already receiving their reward. And you, when you make alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be hidden; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly ”(Matt. 6: 2-4).
Charity must always be distinguished from outward and ostentatious charity, when the heart is not involved in acts of charity, and charity is subject to impure feelings, such as vanity, pride, vanity, selfishness, or a determination to create false public images, authority, and authority. .
“Do good, and lend without expecting anything; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and to the wicked ”(Luke 6:35). Scripture often reminds us to do good to our neighbor “Give to him that asketh thee, and turn not away from him that asketh thee” (Matt. 5:42). Just as the wise King Solomon says “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his goodness” (Prov. 19:17), and according to St. Basil the Great, who has and gives to the other good. not to the other, but entirely to himself.
Since the early centuries of Christianity, charity for the poor, the sick, the hungry, the strangers and the unjust has been practiced very widely and has been placed at such a height that it has even been considered the most powerful means of freeing from the fate of sins. In the first centuries of our holy and God-bearing fathers, St. Basil the Great became most famous, both for his doctrine of charity and for his deeds of charity. called the Queen of Virtues, who exalts man.
Through the condescension of the Holy Spirit, the Lord repeatedly reveals His will to us in the Holy Scriptures, not looking at the sums and quantities of our love, but our obedience to His commandments: “He that doeth good to the poor lendeth to the Lord, his goodness ”(Proverbs 19:17). And St. John Chrysostom says: “The poor are the doctors of our souls, our benefactors and intercessors, because you do not give them as much as you receive; you give money and you receive the Kingdom of Heaven; you alleviate poverty, but you reconcile yourself to the Lord, you deliver the poor from hunger, and he delivers you from the wrath of God, there is no sin that almsgiving cannot cleanse. But in order for alms to be the forgiveness of our sins, we must not repeat them, because without striving for correction we will be deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven.
In this lies the precious pearl of our active evangelical love, which is connected with the fifth beatitude, namely, charity, which, among all virtues, is placed in a more important place, because the Last Judgment will be judged according to the deeds of mercy and love (Matt. 25: 31-46). Love awakens mercy and thus fills every human soul with grace. They, the two, are inconceivable without each other, because charity without love, as well as love without mercy, are inferior to God, as it is said in the Holy Scriptures, only the merciful will be pardoned (Matt. 5: 7). For charity cleanses from sins (Proverbs 16: 6) and delivers from death (Tob. 4:10).
