44.3 F
Denver
Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeUncategorizedMaking a gift of your life

Making a gift of your life

Look to the Middle East and so many of our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ are fighting for their way of life, their faith and even their lives. Christians across the globe are being persecuted and tortured just because they believe in Jesus Christ.

What can we do?

“First, we need to express our solidarity with our fellow Christians in the Middle East through material and spiritual support,” Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila wrote recently in the Denver Catholic Register. “We must pray and fast for our enemies and their change of heart as Jesus commands us in the Gospel.”

Meanwhile, many thousands of unaccompanied children have poured over the southern border into the United States.

What can we do?

“This humanitarian emergency requires, as a first urgent measure, that these children be welcome and protected,” said Pope Francis in July in a statement to the Mexico/Holy See Colloquium on Migration and Development. “These measures, however, will not be sufficient, unless they are accompanied by policies that inform people about the dangers of such a journey and, above all, that promote development in their countries of origin.”

In our own communities, we see what Blessed Mother Teresa, from her book “A Simple Path,” once described as “not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality.”

- Advertisement -

What can we do?

At Catholic Charities, we welcome the stranger, body and soul, through our many ministries.

“Just talking to someone makes all the difference in the world,” I said recently on EWTN’s “Heroic Media” program. “We see the effects of that … where these people have nobody to talk to and they have nobody to share their lives with. And when you do, and the smile appears on their face, and all of the sudden you find out the rich history that this person brings and all the beauty and the glory and the dignity that that human being has — given to them by God — you’re blown away by it. Everybody has a beautiful story, if you let them tell you what it is. It’s just taking the time. …That’s charity.”

So what will you do?

As summer winds down and we look to the beginning of the school year, take a moment and offer a prayer of gratitude and thanksgiving to Jesus Christ for his great gift of salvation. And ask: what does it mean to be Catholic, to lead by example, to make a gift of your life?

Visit Catholic Charities online at www.ccdenver.org or call 303-742-0828 to learn more, volunteer or make a donation.

Support Catholic Charities

See the “Call to Charity” envelope in the Aug. 13 print edition Denver Catholic Register and consider a modest monthly donation of $15, $30 or $50 to help those in need.

Larry Smith
Larry Smith
Larry Smith is the former CEO and Executive Director of Catholic Charities of Denver.
RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular