Charity and material gain

(This post does not address the issue of the tax-deductability of charitable donations.)

The idea of the Vatican selling its artwork to feed the hungry of the world was brought up recently.  A few days ago, Will Smith has said he will participate in an art auction to raise money for the hungry in Haiti.  And now, following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, I imagine there will be similar ventures to aid Haitians in this most dire time of need.

Why does charity, to the secular world, always seem to involve getting something tangible back?  Let's take the example of the Vatican auctioning off its artwork and giving the money to feed the hungry.  It wouldn't be giving its money to feed the hungry, it would giving the money of the auction-winners to feed the hungry; the end result would be:  1) the hungry fed (for a while), 2) the auction-winners in possession of beautiful artwork, and 3) the Vatican no longer in possession of beautiful artwork.  Why couldn't the auction-winners just circumvent the whole process and donate the money themselves without receiving the benefit of artwork?

What Catholic media should be

I just read Vatican II's Inter Mirifica over lunch. This document was promulgated in 1963 (along the with Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy), and provides the Church's teaching and pastoral activity in the media of social communications.

You should read it too, and then see if so-called Catholic media like National Catholic Reporter (US) and The Tablet (UK) actually adhere to the Church's teaching on media and communications from Vatican II.

On the other hand, consider the fine programming of EWTN, Sacred Heart Radio, Ave Maria Radio, etc., and then read this paragraph from the document:

It is quite unbecoming for the Church's children idly to permit the message of salvation to be thwarted or impeded by the technical delays or expenses, however vast, which are encountered by the very nature of these media. Therefore, this sacred Synod advises them of the obligation they have to maintain and assist Catholic newspapers, periodicals and film projects, radio and television programs and stations, whose principal objective is to spread and defend the truth and foster Christian influence in human society. At the same time, the Synod earnestly invites those organizations and individuals who possess financial and technical ability to support these media freely and generously with their resources and their skills, inasmuch as they contribute to genuine culture and the apostolate. (IM 17)

Have you supported Catholic media lately?

Catholic Radio

Please listen to and support Catholic radio. I ask this especially for WFJS 1260 AM (Trenton, NJ).

Charity: Catholic Relief Services commits $1.5M towards flood relief

Here is a press release I received from CRS this afternoon:

We need help getting the word out on the devastating Mexico flooding. CRS has committed $1 million to emergency relief in Mexico. We are working with Caritas Mexicana and Caritas Tabasco, both Catholic agenicies, to provide food, water, shelter and emergency supplies to the people displaced by the flooding. For more info, go to www.crs.org.

Catholic Relief Services commits $1.5 million

to Mexico and Caribbean Flood Response

Guatemala City, Guatemala, November 2, 2007 – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) today announced an initial commitment of $1.5 million toward emergency relief and recovery assistance for thousands of people affected by a series of storms that caused the worst flooding in Mexico’s history and tore through the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba.

A week of heavy rains has flooded 80 percent of the Mexican Gulf Coast state of Tabasco, prompting Mexican President Felipe Calderon to declare it the “worst natural disaster in the history of the country.”

About half of the 2 million people in Tabasco have been affected. Thousands are being evacuated to neighboring states while some 300,000 people remain trapped in their homes by the flooding.

“This is the worst disaster in Mexico’s recent history. The rains are expected to continue so we think it will only get worse,” said Erica Dahl-Bredine, CRS Mexico Country Representative. “Already we’ve seen that people are coming together in solidarity and support, but we don’t know a whole lot right now because there are so many people still trapped and waiting to be rescued. CRS will be working through the national Church network to provide food and water to those people and those who have been evacuated.”

CRS staff members and local Church partners Caritas Mexicana and Caritas Tabasco are on their way to Tabasco to determine the scope of the devastation and the level of need. But with some 85 towns underwater, including much of state capital of Villahermosa, and many roads impassable, assessment is difficult.

CRS, which is working closely with Caritas Mexicana and Caritas Tabasco, has pledged $1 million to provide food, water, blankets and other basic emergency supplies to thousands of affected families.

Long-term recovery efforts will likely include agricultural rehabilitation — about 90 percent of Tabasco’s crops were inundated by the floods — and housing construction and repair.

CRS Relief in Haiti, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic

CRS has committed an additional $500,000 to support relief efforts already underway by CRS staff and partners in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, where Tropical Storm Noel, the deadliest storm to hit the region since Jeanne in 2004, lashed the Caribbean earlier this week.

Roughly 45,000 Haitians, Dominicans and Cubans were evacuated and the storm destroyed some 15,000 homes before moving on to the Bahamas.

CRS is already mobilizing emergency supplies, including water purification and collection materials, plastic sheeting and mosquito nets for some 1,000 families in the Dominican Republic. The country was the hardest hit, with 56 people dead and about 28,000 evacuated.

In Haiti which was already reeling from rains earlier this month that killed 35 people, CRS is providing hygiene and kitchen kits to 225 families in Oranger, just north of the capital city Port-au-Prince. In addition, CRS Haiti plans to provide emergency food rations to 150 people living in a City Hall shelter in Leogane and to 252 people in a shelter in Jacmel.

In Cuba, where flooding damaged crops and homes in the eastern provinces of Las Tunas and Holguin, CRS Cuba, working with Caritas Cubana, will provide bedding, food and home repairs to some 150 families.

CRS emergency teams in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba continue to carry out assessments of remote communities — in some cases by boat. Many roads in the Dominican Republic, for example, are still impassible and communication infrastructure has been severely damaged.

Based on assessments that come in, emergency teams will respond with support to meet the areas of greatest need.

Of particular and immediate concern is the potential for an outbreak of dengue fever in the Dominican Republic, which already has high rates of the virus. Mosquito nets and water purification and collection material are critical right now, said Holly Inurreta, Regional Technical Advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Long-term needs will likely include housing repair and cleanup as well as rehabilitation of water and sanitation systems.

CRS has been supporting human development and humanitarian efforts in Mexico since the 1960's. In recent years, the agency has supported rural development and human rights projects in Chiapas and provided emergency assistance after disasters, such as the 1985 earthquake in Mexico City.

In the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba, CRS has worked for more than five decades providing relief during some of the most devastating disasters. In response to floods earlier this month in Haiti, the agency is focusing immediate relief in the South Department near Les Cayes and in small isolated communities north of Port-au-Prince that were severely affected.

Evangelization: Support the Catholic Answers Forum

I'm a member of Catholic Answers Forums, which is one of the many apologetics and evangelization resources that Catholic Answers offers free of charge. The forum has been visited over one million times in August, and over 7 million pages of useful information about the Catholic faith were delivered to these visitors. Catholic Answers Forums is the largest Catholic Community on the Internet!

But this phenomenal growth requires substantial network bandwidth, more computer equipment, more software, and more support personnel -- all of which cost money. Please help them raise $20,000 this month to keep this valuable Catholic resource alive. If you can make a (tax-deductible) donation, please do.

Charity: Catholic Relief Services needs your help

Catholic Relief Services was founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States. Their mission is to use the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to assist the poor and disadvantaged: alleviating human suffering, promoting development, and fostering charity and justice throughout the world.

CRS is the official international relief and development agency of the U.S. Catholic community, and as such is committed to educating the people of the United States to fulfill their moral responsibilities toward our global brothers and sisters by helping the poor, working to remove the causes of poverty, and promoting social justice.

Please consider making a (tax-deductible) donation to CRS today. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40)

Evangelization: Donate to give flesh to the Word of God

Theater of the Word, Incorporated is a Catholic theater troupe whose mission is to give flesh to the Word of God through drama, to touch hearts as well as minds, and to reach the visually-oriented culture of today, especially the youth. Their performances focus on the lives of the saints, the gifts of the sacraments, and morality issues (such as abortion and modesty).

They will be featured in a ten-part series on EWTN in 2008, and will be performing at the John Paul II Theater in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, thanks to the generous patronage of Archbishop Raymond Burke. Some of their one-man shows are about G. K. Chesterton, St. Paul, and St. Augustine.

Please consider donating -- it's tax deductible -- so that TWI can perform at parishes and schools (which don't have the resources of dinner theaters and country clubs). Your support will help TWI fulfill their mission, building up the faith of others through the Word brought to life before their very eyes.

Family: Donate to save a mother and her child

Several Sources Shelters, through God's grace, saves babies' lives and shelters their young mothers while providing education and ongoing compassionate support services. They also help educate young people to make healthier life choices.

At their main shelter in Ramsey, NJ (only a few towns away from where I grew up) they have what they've named The Garden of Life, featuring six shrines dedicated to Mary, the Blessed Virgin Mother of Jesus, explaining her apparitions to St. Catherine Laboure.

Please consider making a (tax-deductible) donation. Over the past 25 years, more than 15,000 babies have been saved from abortion or similar fates through their efforts.

Vocations: Make a donation to fund vocations

The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations is an organization that assists young men and women who are otherwise qualified and willing to pursue religious or priestly vocations, but are prevented from doing so by their student loans.

Since the summer of 2004, they have helped 31 young men and women pursue their formation in the religious life. It does this by assisting them in paying off their student loans. The average college loan debt today is over $25,000, and most graduates take at least a decade to pay it off.

Please consider making a (tax-deductible) donation. Hundreds, if not thousands, of young men and women stand ready to answer the call, if only we help to remove the one obstacle that stands in their way: college debt. Help put an end to a vocations crisis by assisting those who have heard God's call.