INTERNATIONAL DAY OF CHARITY
-Fr.
Cedric Prakash sj*
Beginning 2013, the United Nations
General Assembly has designated September 5th as the International Day of Charity. In a path-breaking resolution adopted
earlier, it “reaffirmed the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights, which states that recognition of the inherent dignity and of
the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the
foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”. The resolution also affirmed that “charity may contribute to the promotion of
dialogue among people from different civilizations, cultures and religions, as
well as of solidarity and mutual understanding.” It finally invited all member states, civil
society, NGOs and others to commemorate the day “in an appropriate manner, by encouraging charity, including through
education and public awareness-raising activities.”
Very significantly, the resolution also highlights
Mother Teresa and her unparalleled role in promoting charity. The
International Day of Charity is observed on the death anniversary of Mother
Teresa who died in 1997.
Mother Teresa was an embodiment of
charity in the purest sense of the word.
During her lifetime she communicated the greatest of human values which
included compassion, love, understanding and whole-hearted, free service to the
poorest of the poor. She was able to
touch the lives of many. She gave and did not count the cost. It is fitting therefore that many throughout
the world – irrespective of creed and class truly regard her and venerate her
as a saint.
Today, our world cries desperately for
charity. In a message for the day, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says “at a time when the need for humanitarian
assistance has never been higher and when there are more refugees and displaced
people than at any time since the end of the Second World War, charities play
an increasingly vital role in meeting human need.......I call on people
everywhere to volunteer and act charitably in the face of human suffering.”
Thousands of people are today displaced all
over the world. Displacements are caused
due to several reasons which include authoritarian Governments and groups which
are violently hostile to vulnerable, weak and minority communities; lopsided
development programmes which favour the rich and other vested interests,
through corporations and mega-projects; the use of anti-people programmes and
agendas to further the cause of fascists.
This has also meant the denigration of both men and women as they get
relegated to the status of refugees in their own country or in sheer
desperation as they flee to a foreign land.
Charity therefore necessitates a
paradigm shift very particularly in the way we respond to the growing global
crisis. In his Encyclical ‘Laudato Si:
On care for our common home’, Pope Francis does not mince words when he
says, “in the present condition of global
society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of
basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good
immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a
preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters.” (#158)
Earlier, in June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI
wrote a path-breaking Encyclical entitled ‘Caritas
in Veritate’ (Charity in Truth) in which he redefines the whole notion of
charity. “Love – caritas is an
extraordinary force which leads people to opt for courageous and generous
engagement in the field of justice and peace.
It is a force that has its origin in God.” (#1)
We truly need to follow the ways of
Mother Teresa in our world of today, but we also need to look at those endemic
issues which plague society today. Only then will CHARITY make sense!
5th September,
2015
(* Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ is
the Director of PRASHANT, the
Ahmedabad-based Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace.)
Address: ‘PRASHANT’,
Hill Nagar, Near Saffron Hotel, Drive-in Road, Ahmedabad - 380052
Phone: (079) 27455913, 66522333
Fax: (079) 27489018 Email: sjprashant@gmail.com www.humanrightsindia.in
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