…and how it just might save us.

After Mass on Sunday, our parish hosted a fair of all the organizations that we support financially with our parish’s own tithe. On a lot of levels, it was an impressive collection of nonprofits. Support for everything from gang prevention programs, to clean drinking water initiatives, resources for pornography addiction, horse-therapy for veterans, immigrant assistance, services for the homeless, micro-loans to single moms, treatment for HIV-AIDS, were all there.

It was humbling to see the vast array of services, which highlighted an overwhelming array of unmet needs, both locally and globally.

Thanks to the donuts, our children had great patience with my husband and my perusing. Over and over, we heard from the folks representing the organizations that doing this work has gotten significantly more difficult in recent weeks and months, due, in large part, to the abrupt halt in federal grant funding to charitable organizations.

I spoke with organization representatives that described the dire consequences of interrupting treatment for mothers with HIV/AIDS, both for the mother and her children. I spoke with immigrant services that reinforced how afraid people are to speak up and ask for help, and how quickly funding has come to an end to help those who are trying to work within the existing immigration system. The good work being done on so many levels has come to a screeching halt.

Civic Choices

On a personal level, to say that I have been scandalized by the speed at which radical and inhumane decisions have been wielded over the past several weeks in the name of efficiency, is an understatement. And I have come to realize, that the United States’ participation in efforts such as hunger relief and the alleviation of unnecessary suffering from maladies ranging from malaria to measles has been a point of patriotism for me. Humanitarian aid has been a hallmark of the United States as an extension of the values of the people represented herein for as long as I can remember.

On a civic level, I understand that this is a budget line item that is negotiable. Auditing is responsible stewardship. Is it necessary? What did voters intend? What is the cost? Are we honoring our commitments? If we choose to end financial support or support in any form, is there an approach that would diminish the unnecessary negative impact of such a termination? These are all pertinent questions for consideration.

Casting a Spiritual Vote

On a spiritual level, however, our responsibility to the vulnerable is non-negotiable. For those of us who are Christians, the way we care for the most vulnerable, God’s Anawim (the widow and the orphan), is not only evidence of how we treat Jesus, but also how we ourselves will be judged (Matthew 25:34-40). So, we are on shaky ground when we allow our administration to speak for us in terms of who is worthy of care, and whose care is dispensable. The very definition of a sin of omission is choosing not to do the good you know you have the capacity to do.

As a Catholic, being governed by an administration that claims the title ‘pro-life,’ while viewing outreach, compassion, and stewardship as inefficient and wasteful, is an important moment for pause. If we haven’t yet understood, we can now see the void left behind when federal dollars pull out of the causes we previously supported. Suddenly organizations (even organizations that we may have willingly supported through tax dollars or otherwise), are left trying to provide the same good services with fewer staff and resources.

Pro-life? 

If the current administration received your vote because of their pro-life platform, now would be an important time to assess the pro-life stance you hold. Whose life are you for? Whose life did Jesus say is worthy of protection? The teen mom, the unhoused veteran, those suffering from addiction, the migrant worker who harvests the produce you eat, the unborn child, the child whose families’ documents are in process and fears going to school, the refugee father who came legally to the U.S. and is doing his best to adjust to life in the country he was invited to live in before his case worker got laid off?

These are not fringe groups or causes. Most of us have family or friends that meet one or more of these descriptions. Through the current administration’s actions, every charity that receives or has received federal funding has been put on notice. Most have found they are left in a lurch unless the private sector steps in. Or, as a feisty pastor once said: “The good news is we have all the money we need to meet the need. The bad news is, it’s in your wallets.”

The Private Sector–That’s Us

In the same way that outreach and aid used to be synonymous with the United States, it should be even more so for the Christian. Since the early church, followers of Christ have been identifiable based on their charity to those in need. To this day the Catholic Church remains the largest charitable organization in the world. Even when given federal funding, the Church has always raised the necessary difference to keep programs afloat.

Every community in this country has at least one charitable organization. Be it a church, a food pantry, a legal aid center, a rehab facility, a pro-life counseling center, or head start program. If these services are valuable to you and the people in your community who utilize them, it feels like an important time to introduce yourself and put some skin in the game. Maybe you don’t even know what the needs in your community are.

Want to know who does? The social workers in elementary schools can tell you how many families don’t have food over the weekend. Pastoral associates know the number of families who can’t afford their prescriptions, mortgages, or the gas to put in their cars to get to work. In communities that use propane heat, the gas company knows whose tanks are being filled in the winter and whose aren’t. Receptionists at nursing homes know which patients get visitors and which don’t. “Love is inventive to infinity,” in the words of Saint Vincent de Paul. After all, charity is another word for love. We know how to do this, and as government starts to take itself out of the game of partnering with nonprofits, it’s up to “We the People” to find other ways to support our communities.

Both/And Solutions

Perhaps you are underwhelmed by the resources in your community, or there is a cause closer to your heart. Who does that thing well? Have you ever supported their work beyond your tax dollars? Have you asked to receive a needs list from the food pantry, or asked a local school what their students’ needs are? Ever taken a tour of an organization you support, or stopped in to meet some of the people that they serve as a volunteer? There’s something about having real relationships that changes our perception of how “the issues” affect “people.” Suddenly, they are not just “people”- they have names and faces and stories that would melt and break your heart.

The principle of paradox is that two things which appear mutually exclusive, can actually be true at the same time. Eventually, we are forced to live in the tension of in-between because although the two ought to be incompatible, we cannot reason one or the other away. This is bothersome for those who prefer answers to be black and white. Which it turns out, is a lot of us.

And yet, as a person of faith, it feels hopeful to imagine that we have the greatest advantage for navigating the murky waters of the faith and politics paradox. After all, the Gospel is littered with inconvenient images that make us wonder about our own understanding of grace. Such paradoxical matters of faith include: Alpha and Omega; human and divine; mercy and justice; broken and beloved; greatest and least; already and not yet; bread and body.

Through contemplation of these and so many others, it is easy to see the ways that grace allows for a holy tension, especially when it applies to matters of governing: Republican or Democrat? Spend or save? Charity or justice? Impenetrable or permeable? All or nothing?

The Way Forward

The way forward requires both/and thinking. Democrats and Republicans. Charity and justice. Responsible and forward-thinking. Public and private. Faith and politics. As a nation who has the wherewithal and experience to provide necessary outreach to those in need, let it remain a priority. As a people who follow our God into the desert each Lent to remind ourselves of our own need for metanoia, would that our hearts indeed be rent, and all that pours forth be love.