Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: charity

The hardest task of all

I often wonder why I am at times even though I know it is wrong; yet I persist like someone picking a wound, over and over again in being unfair in my attitude towards others. Self righteousness really at its root, when they commit the same faults or sins that I do, more willing to… Read More ›

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God Knows Our Hearts

Mammon is the Hebrew word for “riches;’ just as in Punic the word for “profit” is mammon. What are we to do? What did the Lord command? “Make yourselves friends with the mam­mon of iniquity [dishonest wealth], so that they too, when you begin to fail, may receive you into eternal shelters:” It is easy,… Read More ›

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For the greatest thing is charity

Do you see that our practice has more power to do good? By practice I mean, not your fasting, nor yet your strewing sackcloth and ashes under you, but if you despise wealth, as it ought to be despised; if you be kindly affectioned, if you give your bread to the hungry, if you control… Read More ›

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Holy man off Cleveland exit I-75

He actually has a regal look about him, at least when first spotted, sitting on the side of the road. Long white beard, thin hair also uncut, in matching white shirt and shorts, soaked with sweat on some days. Looks almost like some sort of holy man one might see in India, along the roads… Read More ›

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Pope calls for concrete acts of mercy this Lent

Vatican City, Jan 26, 2016 / 04:37 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his 2016 Lenten message, Pope Francis called the faithful to place special emphasis on the spiritual and corporal works of mercy this Lent, taking into account the current Jubilee Year of Mercy. “God’s mercy transforms human hearts; it enables us, through the experience of… Read More ›

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Pope writes Christmas letter to Middle East’s persecuted Christians

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has written a Christmas letter to the Christians of the Middle East  to express his closeness to them at a time of “afflictions and tribulations” due to “the continuing hostilities in the region, but especially because of the work of a newer and disturbing terrorist organization.” Though the Pope does not… Read More ›

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Love of neighbor

Three old men, of whom one had a bad reputation, came one day to Abba Achilles. The first asked him, ‘Father, make me a fishing-net.’ ‘I will not make you one,’ he replied. Then the second said, ‘Of your charity make one, so that we may have a souvenir of you in the monastery.’ But… Read More ›

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Papal envoy: Francis donated $1 million to Iraqi refugees

Vatican City, Aug 22, 2014 / 01:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has given $1 million as a personal contribution to help Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq who have been forced from their homes, according to his personal envoy to the country.Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples,… Read More ›

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Patience and Charity

Going to town one day to sell some small articles, Abba Agathon met a cripple on the roadside, paralyzed in his legs, who asked him where he was going. Abba Agathon replied, ‘To town, to sell some things.’ The other said, ‘Do me the favor of carrying me there.’ So he carried him to the… Read More ›

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The Danger of Infrastructure

Mobility does not involve large investments in infrastructure. We are familiar with agencies of charity or service that become identified with their real estate. Long before the first meal is served or the first medicine is distributed, humanitarian organizations set up a building to house staff -responsible for gathering and distributing funds. This is usually… Read More ›

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