
On the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ is celebrated the Day of Charity. It was not easy to chase away the ghosts that beset her. In the last two centuries many people have denigrated charity. It has been repeated ad nauseam that charity is an offense, if justice is established.
In his encyclical "God is love," Benedict quoted the saying that "the poor do not need charity but justice. Instead of contributing to individual works of charity to maintaining the status quo, we need to build a just social order in which all receive their share of the world's goods and, therefore, need not and works of charity. "
The Pope recognizes that there is truth to this thinking: "A fundamental rule the State must seek justice, the goal of a just social order is to guarantee to each his share of the commons, respecting the principle of subsidiarity "(DC 26). Quoting St. Augustine, adding that "a State which is not governed according to justice is reduced to a bunch of thieves." So "the State must inevitably face the question of how to do justice here and now" (DC 28).
"Love-caritas-will always prove necessary, even in the most just society. There will always be situations of material need where it is indispensable a support of concrete love of neighbor "(DC 28).
The slap of the social and economic crisis has sparked a lot of his dream of good digestion and beach with palm trees. The poor exist. They live with us. And part of our family. And shocking it may seem, are answered in the institutions that claim to seek justice.
is the charity Caritas, which is serving immigrants and the hungry, the unemployed and workers who have spent months without pay. It is charity which is creating training programs for children, offering scholarships to young people and help those who suffer an earthquake.
Charity does not preclude its responsibility to those who have to promote justice, cut wasteful spending and create sources of wealth. But charity reminds us that the disinherited of this world can not wait until you change the structures.
José-Román Flecha Andrés