By Jade Angelo Gascon
On Eagle’s Wings Foundation

Catastrophes that kiss our countrymen goodbye with a kiss of death squeeze out the good in us. Suddenly, everyone’s charitable.

From chatter to charity, Kris is ABS-CBN's poster girl for everything!

ABS-CBN reported on Monday that its Sagip Kapamilya has received over P100 million in aid donations for the victims of typhoon “Ondoy” (international codename: Ketsana). And it continues to increase every Kris Aquino minute.

Indeed, the “Ondoy” downpour is only matched by the charity that is now spilling over from every corner of the nation. Some give in cash, some in kind, others offer their time and strength as ground volunteer workers.

As we continue to lose ourselves in this euphoria of lavish charity and bayanihan (solidarity), may we not lose the foundational essence of generosity. Really, why do we give? And why should we give?

Flooded Metro

We should give because it is a tangible display of faith that is rightly aligned with the heart of God.

“Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” James 1:27

“What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, ‘Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well’—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?” James 2:14-16

We should give because it is our response to Christ—the soul of compassion Himself!

Why we should give

“For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me… I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!” Matthew 25: 35, 36, 40

Neither to be famous nor because famous people are doing it. Not because we have a deep sense of pity. Not because it’s the “in” thing today. Not because we are a united Filipino race. And certainly not because it’s human nature.

Instead, we should give for the pure and raw reason that it is the God-centered response and it is our response to God who first loved us. If we give for this right reason, our earthly acts of charity shall echo, even without media mileage, throughout eternity.

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by Bro. Ben Quiñones[1]

1. Towards a God-centered Economy

The paramount motivation of economic actors in the prevailing economy is personal accumulation of wealth. This motivation is rooted in man’s greed and self-centeredness, which is the same as saying that man is sinful. There is really nothing wrong with this realization as it agrees with biblical truth, but when it is translated into a system of belief postulating that man engages in economic activities for the purpose of personal wealth accumulation, then that belief system virtually justifies greediness and self-centeredness of man as an economic being.

In the present economic order, sin is made socially acceptable simply because the prevailing system of belief says that it is what motivates man to organize a market economy. When a legal system is created to support this belief system, then the pursuit of personal profit and wealth accumulation is legalized, and society establishes institutions to protect and preserve the established system.

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