Awake to others: The mutual nature of Christian charity

There are times when we find ourselves more engaged in reaching out to others: the Lenten season; the summer, when we may have a bit more time; or the moments when we have a full closet or pantry and can spare some things to take to a local charity.

In my own life, service starts with being acutely aware of God's presence. What would God have me respond to in this present moment? If God is my companion, then my ears and eyes are open to what is before me. I have a responsibility as a Christian to share what I have, to be a joyful witness, to listen to the heart meanderings of another. As I become better at hearing and seeing in the now -- and as I respond -- I find that I become blessed by those who share in the abundance I have been given.

"Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour" (Mt 25:13). This may be seen as a call to prepare for the end times, but it may also be a call to respond with companionship to the one who is before me.

Being aware of the needs of others and responding to them is a responsibility I have as a Christian. I sometimes shudder at the implication the word "service" conjures up. Although not always intentional, it seems that the giver has the advantage, the upper hand, the answers, and the receiver, therefore, must be grateful for what the giver has provided.

Christian service is a mutual experience. I found this truth while being graced with the opportunity to build simple homes in Reynosa, Mexico. We came with our tools, our hope of helping those who live with nothing, and our desire to do good. What we left with was quite different.

Working with students, their parents and those who lived in this underserved part of the world, we began to understand that service is only a vehicle to building community. It was a mutual sharing. What we really built was friendship, a bond that flowed freely between giver and receiver.

No one possessed more than another. If I had food to share, there was someone who delighted in the gift, and that delight allowed me to revel in a joy shared. We gathered in prayer on the last day of our building to thank God for the opportunity to meet one another and for the grace to share our common humanity.

We have a responsibility to respond to the need before us. When we do respond, what is returned is a reply to some need of our own. This morning before Mass began, a man whose wife suffers from dementia and is living apart from him asked if I would pray for him because "his heart was broken" from this separation. As I assured him of my prayer, I found myself experiencing my own heartbreak for him -- and for the separations and heartbreak I have experienced in my own life. We were united in that moment; we shared a mutual giving and receiving.

As Christians, our service must be a response to God's Spirit stirring within us. We must be alert to how it reveals itself by living in the presence of God and by truly seeing the other who is before us. In Scripture, we are called to "keep awake" (Mt 24:42). Perhaps that's the mantra of Christian service as well.