Stepping Back and Taking Stock - Reflections on Msgr. Ryan on Charity and Welfare

Stepping Back and Taking Stock – Reflections on Msgr. Ryan on Charity and Welfare 

This morning I was talking with my 11 year old son about clean water.  He raised the issue because he’s been learning about depleting water supplies and the lack of access many have globally to potable water.  He has created a presentation on it and is educating people on the issue; he was asking me what we can do to help solve the problem, and so we talked about various ideas:  using less water, conserving water using rain barrels, helping developing countries gain access to clean water by helping projects like Water.org and the like. 

At no point in our conversation did we talk about government, laws, or anything of the like.

And it struck me that in the three essays of Msgr. Ryan that we reprinted here, at no point did Msgr. Ryan talk about any of those things either.  He began by asking us to examine our consciences and asking what we are going to do about charity and welfare for others.  This is not to suggest that government and laws have no role in these various issues.  It is to suggest, however, that the first impulse of the Church is not in that arena, but in its own arena of living the Gospel as we ought and in ways that respond to the signs of the times. 

In suggesting that Christians live differently and not seek a lifestyle above a certain annual income, he does not suggest any governmental or legal solution.  He urges us to give away the excess, for that is what the Gospel calls us to do.  We as Christians are called for forego the luxuries of the world in order to live simply; this is not merely the command of those who take formal vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.  It is an obligation of every Christian.  Such an assertion strikes us as radical and contrary to the tradition, but in many ways Msgr. Ryan anticipated the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on this point.  In #2053 the Catechism states that the evangelical counsels are intrinsically connected to the Ten Commandments and the life of charity, thereby making them in some way a requirement of every Christian.  Following the teaching of St. Francis de Sales, the Catechism then points out that each of us is called to live lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience according to our state in life.  Paragraphs 1965-1974 provide great reflection for us on how we might accomplish this in our own lives.

At the same time, it must be said that Msgr. Ryan, following the teaching of the Church, does acknowledge that governments do have a legitimate role in preserving the common good in these areas in providing a safety net and in providing an environment in which such a life of charity and welfare can flourish in society. 

What might our own response be to the call to live the evangelical counsels in our lives?  One concrete example is intentional communities where people come together to live in community in order to live lives of prayer, community, simplicity, and service.  Nazareth Farm in West Virginia and Jerusalem Farm in Kansas City, MO are two of many examples of living this call in the modern world.  Some families live individual lives of simplicity and are intentional about what they use and how much they use.  One family I know intentionally lived at the poverty level for an entire year in order to experience what the poor experience, reflect upon their lives, and at the end live more simply so that they could give more to the poor and marginalized.

Another suggestion is to move out of the outer suburbs where the pressure to succumb to consumerism is so great, and relocate to the urban core.  It provides an opportunity to really be neighbor to the poor, to experience the life of the poor by immersion.  Cities will not be transformed and renewed by vicarious activity in far removed suburbs.  And we cannot truly understand the problems of the urban core until we immerse ourselves in them.  Besides, properties are less expensive, transportation is less expensive, access to public transportation is more plentiful, and opportunities for urban farming are more accessible. 

In any case, these are merely suggestions of appropriating the call to live the evangelical counsels in our particular states of life.  Each person and family must discern their own particular response to the call themselves, but we must not ignore the obligation.  We must take it seriously.  Just as Jesus called the rich young man to such a life of simplicity, so He calls us to that same life.  How will we respond?  May we not walk away sad, clinging to our many possessions, but may we instead cast off our robe like St. Francis and respond with great joy.