My Father was not a religious man in the conventional sense of the word. He went to church only on two feastdays: his birthday and the feast of the patron saint - St. Thomas de Villanueva. I guess that was why he organized all baptism and confirmation of his children around the second date. Nonetheless, he was a religious man in the biblical sense of never refusing to give something to the poor. He had an “ironic” expression which always comes to mind when I meet someone asking me explicitly for alms – “give something…and thank God, you are not in his/her position.” I had a glimpse of the number of people he has helped when during his funeral many years ago, so many people unknown to me came and shared our grief. Some of them admitted that they regularly received something from my father as aid for their living.
Almsgiving is the theme of the Pope’s Lenten Message this year. This message is then deepened by Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong in his Pastoral Letter this Lent. Let me share with you an excerpt from this Letter wherein he spoke of how almsgiving played a very important role in his personal life.
“(...) Of course our faith guarantees a higher reward: God’s own praise “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren you did it to me”. (Mt 25:40) But the Pope said we are not to boast of this before God. Doing Good is a duty. It is in accord with justice. As Jesus said, “When you have done what is due you should say I am an unworthy servant”. Especially when we feel that we are indebted in many things to God, almsgiving is the best way of reparation. “Love covers a multitude of sins”. (I Pet 4:8) We should not worry about our lack of financial means. We can be at peace if we do what we can. Jesus praised the widow openly for giving two tiny coins. (…)
In concluding this pastoral letter I invite you, my brother and sisters to pay special attention on the emphasis the Pope made on the passage of St. Matthew’s Gospel: In doing good you should not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
I would like to share with you an experience of my childhood. It was when Shanghai was invaded. My father had a stroke and was ill. We were seven members in the family to be fed and five of them children of school age. One cold winter, it was snowing outside; we were all in bed to keep warm. We were hungry and could only think: “Shall we have rice to eat today?” My father looked at the clock and called me to get up. (When he was well he used to take my hand in his big hand and put it in his pocket and both of us ran to the Church for Mass.) Mother said, “It is snowing. The sole of your plastic shoes are broken. If you get wet you will catch cold. Stay at home and pray.” Father said, “You go to Mass everyday. Do not miss it today. May God give us our daily bread.”
Of course father won the day. I bit my teeth and raced to the Church and served Mass as usual. When I was ready to race back home an elderly man came running after me. It was Mr. Zhou Chi Yao whom everybody knew. “My little friend, are you not the son of Zen En Giou?” “Yes.” “Thank God I see you. How is your father? He has not been to Church for a long time.” The two of them attended Mass daily. Though they greeted each other briefly by a nod of the head they became good brothers in the Lord. I told him about our family situation. Mr. Zhou dressed simply but he was a very rich man. He took me to his home and took out a stack of money, counted them, wrapped them up and gave me. “Take good care and bring this to your father.” We had enough money to feed us for several months. Mr. Zhou’s left hand did not know what his right hand has done. May God reward him and may we follow his example.
Bello is the italian word for beautiful.
