“Hands outstretched for help are more and more, voices to hear them – fewer and fewer…”
With the blessing and care of His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir, several needy families received material help from the Church through two social centres in Chisinau: The Social-Missionary Center “The Icon of the Mother of God, the Joy of All the Needy” and the Social and Charity Center “Presbitera Irina Cij”.
Through these actions, the volunteers of the two social and philanthropic institutions managed to bring joy to the souls of dozens of children and adults from families with limited financial possibilities, bringing a ray of hope. At the same time, they conveyed the message of encouragement from the Church, which not only has them in prayer, but is constantly involved in solving the social problems of its faithful, helping them to overcome them.
The times when people shared their wealth with others, looking only to the treasures of the soul, seem long gone. The Saviour’s exhortation to the rich young man who was interested in the salvation of his soul: “Go, sell your possessions and distribute them to the poor, then come and follow me”, seems to be increasingly ignored and unheard in this meaningless world thirsting for true love.
But the truth is one thing: at the Last Judgment, as the Saviour himself shows us, the criteria by which we will be judged will be those of philanthropy or charity, criteria not of high theology or scholarship, but of social assistance. We will not then be asked about our theological readings, not even about our fasting or even our prayer, although these are all included in the life programme of a Christian, but we will be asked whether we have fed or sheltered the poor, whether we have sought out and helped the sick or imprisoned, whether we have received with love the stranger and the lonely. If we have done such good works, we have received Christ into our life, soul and home. If, on the contrary, we hesitated or avoided doing these Christian deeds, we have shunned or driven away the Saviour.
The Church always teaches us to stay united, because we are all brothers and sisters in the Lord, by virtue of our essential quality of being beloved sons and daughters of the same Heavenly Father, Source of Love and Mercy. On the other hand, she urges us to discover in every human person in need and suffering Christ the Lord, who, in our attitude towards the outstretched hand of the poor, in the muffled cry of the hungry or the sick, in the tearful gaze of the suffering, testifies to our love for him. Christ is therefore present in the most difficult situations in people’s lives, helping the poor and suffering, and testing the healthy and rich.
Let us continue to be united in the spirit of communion and brotherhood, offering help and support to those in suffering and in the various difficulties of life!
Synodal Sector for Social Work and Charity