LIGHT OF CHARITY AND JUSTICE - A: 5th Sun in OrdTime

First Reading: Isaiah 58:7-10 (5 February 2023)

“Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed” (Isa 58:8a).

This is the promised reward for all those generous people who “share […] bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the homeless; clothe the naked” (v. 7a). Apparently, Isaiah implied here that performing charity is one way of spreading the light of faith, hope, and love to mankind. But charity is only one part of the equation since there is the necessity of coupling it with a righteous disposition and social concern. Accordingly, Isaiah appended, “If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday” (vv. 9b-10).

What, then, is communicated is the necessity for realizing two related values in our day-to-day lives, viz., charity and justice.

Charity in our action means the performance of the corporal works of mercy, which according to CCC #2447 “are charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor … [that include] feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead.” The CCC adds that “[a]mong all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.”

The catechism, hence, emphasizes the necessity of performing charitable works, not only for the sake of helping the needy but as a form of delivering righteousness to them, becoming instruments of God in rendering justice to them.

In this sense, Isaiah was correct in stating that charity brings light. It becomes a beacon of hope for those who are suffering, including the self. Hence, in performing charity, one is healed as well in the process. Becoming a generous giver is a way of shunning one’s personal attachment to the material world and becoming an agent of the rule of justice in the world. In so doing, the prophecy promises that “the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water whose waters do not fail” (v. 11).

Isaiah clarified that the first step to having our prayers heard by the Lord is by a humble acceptance of sins and a bold challenge to fight for justice: “Is this not this fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (v. 6).

Essentially, charity is empty without a firm resolve to change the societal system of oppression and to adhere to a communal life of righteousness where no one is ever oppressed nor marginalized.

By the performance of charitable works and advocating justice in our lands, we slowly radiate God’s goodness, turning ourselves into beacons of hope and bringers of life especially to those who had been living in darkness, sin, and oppression. Let ask ourselves whether we keep the light of charity and justice burning and held up high so that many, especially the least member of the society, will be given the light of hope to walk their paths despite the hardships of life.

- Rex Fortes, CM