Growing Charity to Uproot Greed

Growing Charity to Uproot Greed. Charity is the virtue that wars against greed. Generosity can be used interchangeably with the word charity. Perhaps charity has become so overused that we can forget the real meaning. We give to charities which do good to those in need and are called to be charitable or kind toward others. We don’t hear the word generous used so often in so many ways. So, it can more readily bring to mind the image of someone giving to a point of sacrifice in a way that is unexpected and moving. That is how we are called to give, and it is also how we are called to be in our interactions with others. That means it doesn’t just pertain to the giving of material goods but also the giving of our time and attention in acknowledging others, affirming the good, expressing value of the other, and so on.

St. Francis of Assisi cautioned his brothers against ‘appropriating’ anything as their own. This is the attitude that underpins a generous heart. When we stay rooted in the fact that everything we are and everything we receive is a gift from God, we are able to give of our goods and of ourselves in a way that doesn’t count the cost because we know we are not the ones who paid the price. It was paid by the Lord.

This fundamental attitude helps to fix us in a stance counter to greed. Generosity focuses us on allowing the flow of God’s goodness to flow through us. Greed seeks to get for ourselves. The Lord has so made us for generosity and charity that we receive a physiological benefit from it. When we act in charity, are the recipients of a charitable act, or even witness a charitable act a hormone called oxytocin is released within us that fosters further acts of love, trust, and friendship. Oxytocin is the physical basis for the warm, fuzzy feelings we experience when we see or experience loving interactions between people.

Growing Charity to Uproot Greed