LENT 2003: "IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE"

VATICAN CITY, FEB 6, 2003 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's Message for Lent 2003, on the theme "It is more blessed to give than to receive" was presented today in the Holy See Press Office by Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," Msgr Karel Kasteel, secretary and Fr. Oreste Benzi, founder of the Pope John XXIII Association.

Archbishop Cordes stated that the words of Jesus - "It is more blessed to give than to receive" - seem to have received a "universal consensus" if we look at the world of charitable institutions, corporations involved in charity, governments preparing budgets to benefit the poor, needy and underprivileged and fund-raising events for charity sponsored by actors, sports figures and politicians. He noted, for example, from personal experience how airlines, sponsoring a specific foundation, asked for donations aboard flights or how, in airports, passengers are asked to help a specific cause.

He asked: "Is this widespread action of good works perhaps proof that Jesus' statement has found global recognition and that maybe it is superfluous today to underscore it? But upon closer examination we see that both recipients and donors can have aims that are quite diverse in their activity for others."

The archbishop recalled other words of Jesus: "But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Philanthropy and solidarity have even become "a business", he stated, which can lead to "the possibility that those who run it take a substantial quota for their own needs." Sometimes philanthropy is undertaken, he said, to improve one's personal image or that of a company.

Archbishop Cordes pointed out that Pope John Paul's reminder that "It is more blessed to give than to receive" is a "new exhortation to give but it also imposes clear limits." He highlighted the Pope's statement about the generosity of those missionaries and members of movements who help the poor, needy and underprivileged throughout the world, saying: "They become instruments themselves for their brothers and sisters, in the sense that today's Lenten Message gives in which the Holy Father describes the highest form is availability for those who suffer as 'the disinterested gift of oneself for others'."

He emphasized that it is this altruistic, selfless form of charitable giving to which we must return, putting aside hopes for personal glory or recognition or reward.

Fr. Oreste Benzi, affirmed the archbishop, is one of those persons who have totally given of themselves. As founder of the John XXIII Association, he has worked since 1968 with young people to help the materially and mentally impoverished. The 186 centers worldwide assist "so-called normal families with prostitutes, former drug addicts and alcoholics, as well as the physically and mentally handicapped." The archbishop described Fr. Oreste as "a simple man, who is changing the world 180 degrees. His motto is: 'The young do not need something, they need someone'."
Fr. Oreste asserted that, "In a word to the poor, to the least, I have to give them the answer they need, not the answer the establishment wants that everything and everyone is well. Sharing requires belonging, not just a performance. It is necessary to remove the causes of injustice and marginalization. We cannot just help victims, we must prevent them from becoming victims, according to St. Augustine and the teaching of the Fathers and Magisterium of the Church. Charity cannot cover up problems, it must resolve them. We can't just shed tears on the hungry; we have to unmask who is making them hungry. One cannot only move against terrorist acts. One has to defeat terrorist systems."

"The Church herself," he stated, "is justice. Promoting acts of justice, the Church shows her true identity and attracts all people. The Pope is the proof of this."

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