Importance Of Charity

3.2. Charity/love is the proclamation and witness to the faith

«Always and by its very nature, charity is at the heart of the Gospel and is the great sign that leads us to believe in the Gospel» (Italian Episcopal Conference, Evangelizzazione e testimonianza della carità, no. 9). 'By its very nature' means that the Church’s charitable work carries and shows the traces of God's love –love that is God - not by virtue of a superimposed, extrinsic, intentionality, but because it consists in an action whose ultimate subject is God, the Trinity. It is therefore important that Catholic charitable organizations, when planning each project, also raise questions as to its evangelization dimension, precisely because this is the unique mission of the

Deus Caritas est, no. 25a). An easy objection can be raised: that even a group of non-believing volunteers is equally capable of these acts of love. Beyond the Spirit that is always in action – whenever, wherever, however and through whomever He wants (hence, even in those who do not [yet] believe), the specificity of Christian charity does not lie so much on the phenomenological level of the apparent gesture, as in the action itself, in the interior thrust that gives it impulse and in the criterion that guides it, that is, to the extent of the hope that it bears. This means that charity is recognized as such when the action opens up to faith and to the contents of faith, not as a tiring superposition or awkward obligation, but as the truth of love itself. In this way, even the many people who work in our organizations, who do not yet feel fully in the faith,

To recognize the beneficiaries of charitable activities as the main actors of those activities has unmistakably proven to be a crucial choice and method. Authentic development consists in a process carried out by active and free subjects that work responsibly for their individual improvement and for their wider community of reference, which includes the ecclesial community. Indisputable starting point and real strength of every action of human promotion is therefore the freedom of the person. One must provide and encourage paths of relationships based on friendship and sharing, trust, mutual respect and the commitment to solidarity (or united commitment – impegno solidale) among individuals and groups. This is possible only when those who are engaged in the service of charity preserve humility, and are actually open to the experience of sharing with the other, to meet him person to