OLPS Mission Outreach: Catholic News 23 December 2007

Recylcing PC Project
30th May 08 Rempang Photo/Video Viewing get-together (DVDs were given out)
6th Jun 08 at 8pm Monthly Prayer Session
1st to 4th May 08 Rempang Mission Trip
15th Feb 08 Monthly Prayer Session @ 8pm
06 Jan 08 Day Trip to Rempang
09 Dec 07 Inauguration Mass - Carmel Of Christ The King
17 Nov 07 Carmalite Sisters' Move
21 - 25 Sep 07 Silent Retreat @ Chiangmai Seven Fountain Spirituality Centre
7th Sep 07 Monthly Prayer Session @ 8 pm at 71L Jalan Senang (please bring bibles)
18 Aug 07 Batam Fund Raising @ Que Pasa (please see post dated 29 July 07)
09 Aug 07 OLPS Kid's Carnival held @ OLPS parish
Aug 07 CSCC Cathoic Social and Community Council is holding a Volunteer Fair (click link to find out details)
03 Aug 07 8pm Monthly Prayer Meeting @ 71L Jalan Senang Please bring along bibles
06 Jul 07 Prayer Meeting @ Carol & Edmund's 8pm
23 Jun 07 Brainstorm meeting
29 - 01 May 07 Rempang Mission Trip
18 May 07 Tanjung Pinang Bed Purchases
05 May 07 Rempang Debrief Meeting
Apr 07 Easter Celebrations
Mar 07 Journey Inwards - Stay-in day of recollection at Choice Retreat Centre
Mar 07 5 Weekly Lenten Reflection Meetings
06 Jan 07 Newater Plant Tour
01 Jan 07 MOT Inagural Prayer Meet
31 Dec 06 Thanksgiving Mass For Both Trips
02 Dec 06 MOT Advent Get Together
08 - 11 Dec 06 Tanjung Pinang Mission Trip
24 - 27 Nov 06 Rempang Mission Trip
28 - 29 Oct 06 World Mission Exhibition
01 Jun 06 Father Luke's Farewell
22 - 23 Oct 05 World Mission Exhibition
16 Oct 05 Window On Mission Exhibition
Jun 05 Rempang Mission Trip

Why it is more blessed to give than to receive

Saint Vincent de Paul once gave an instruction to his religious community that sounded something like this : "When the demands of life seem unfair to you, when you are exhausted and have to pull yourself out of bed yet another time to do some act of service, do it gladly, without counting the cost and without self-pity, for if you persevere in serving others, in giving yourself to the poor, if you persevere to the point of completely spending yourself, perhaps someday the poor will find it in their hears to forgive you. For it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it is also a lot easier!"

That might sound curious. Why do the poor need to forgive us? For what do we need to be forgiven? Shouldn't we feel good about serving others?

All of us, I suspect, have a pretty good sense of what he means. We all know that there is a certain humiliation in needing to receive, just as there is a certain pride in being able to give. The things we often complain about are really our greatest blessings: What is worse than being too busy? Having nothing to do. What is more painful than having to give away something we own? Having nothing to give away. What is harder than being dragged out of bed to minister to someone in need? Being the person who is in bed and who needs someone to help him or her. What is harder than being brought to our knees asking someone else for his or her time and energy? It is more blessed to be able to give than to receive, and it is easier. But there's more.

There is a certain divine power, literally, in being able to give. The one who gives gets to be God, or, at very least, to feel like God. That's not an overstatement. God is the source of all that is, the source of all gift. When we are in a position to give, we mediate divine power and we get to feel that power. Whenever we act like God we get to feel like God.

Yet, the irony is that our very gifts and strengths, if not given over with the proper attitude, can easily make others feel inferior. It is important to understand this so that we are more careful to not serve others in ways that demean them. It is not automatic, nor easy, to give a gift in a way that does not shame the recipient. Vincent de Paul's counsel highlights this caution.

But there's a second lesson here as well. Vincent de Paul meant this too as an antidote to self-pity. For anyone who is in a giving role (a parent, a minister, a teacher, a nurse, a social worker, an advocate for justice, a philanthropist, a politician) there is the temptation to fall into self-pity: "Look all I am doing! I do all this for others, but nobody is doing anything for me! I am so tired! Is there no end to this? Am I the only one who cares? This is asking more of me than is fair! I have my own problems that I should tend to!"

It is easy, especially when one is tired and frustrated by lack of support, to lose heart, to begin to feel sorry for oneself, and to eventually feel that we are being unfairly used by others, that we are being asked to give more than our share.

That is very common. Care-givers often feel victimized by those to whom they are giving of themselves. We've even coined some terms for this: "Compassion fatigue", "Compassion burnout". Not surprisingly, many good people resent the demand of the poor: the welfare system, the push by various groups for their rights, the pressure for more immigration, the drain that the sick put on the energy and money of our society, the cost of repairing the damage done by youthful vandals, and so on. The temptation is to give up and give in; give up on going the extra mile and give in to the temptation to resign and take care of ourselves.

And so Vincent de Paul's counsel should be told and retold: If we do not continue to serve the poor, despite our tiredness and self-pity, the poor will never find it in their hearts to forgive us. We need to remember that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and it is also easier.

Written by Father Ronald Rolheiser

OLPS Mission Outreach

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