Father Dominic Emmanuel

In my last column, which appeared on March 21 (Prayers to help Japan), a few days after the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the north-eastern coast of Japan taking with it more than 10,000 lives, I had suggested that we all can help the affected people of Japan through our prayers. While highlighting the importance of prayer in such situations, I had promised that in my next column I would deal with how else we can help people in distress in addition to praying.I am sure many of us are continuing to pray for the people of Japan.

In fact, there has been a tremendous response from the international community to the disaster-hit Japan in terms of monetary donations as well as material help. Soon after the catastrophe, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh telephoned his counterpart there and assured that India stood in full solidarity with the people of Japan, and that our resources were at the disposal of Japan for any assistance they might require. Immediately after that a consignment of much-needed blankets were sent to Japan by the Government of India.
Though by international standards as well as Japan’s enormous needs, a few thousand blankets do not add up to much, it is here that the contribution of ordinary folk like us comes into play. There are many ways and indeed very many opportunities to give generously.
One is certainly moved on such tragic occasions, but if we keep our eyes and ears open we will find that different types of people stand in need of our generosity. Giving, therefore, should not be restricted only to the victims of natural calamities. We should also look at the poor, the sick, the orphans, the widows, the elderly, the street children... the list can go on and on.
The victims of natural disasters, who become homeless and penniless overnight, may not like to be treated on par with the poor who by and large depend on almsgiving. But the problem is not with who is giving and in what quantity, it is more about the quality and the spirit of giving.
The larger issue, of course, is about how ready we are to share what we have with those who are in need and are less fortunate than us. One of the things expected of Christians in this season of Lent, as also from people of other religions on other occasions, along with prayer and fasting, is to give generously.
To demonstrate the quality of giving, Jesus came up with an interesting example of a poor woman (Gospel of Luke). “As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.” “Truly I tell you”, he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on”.
Another Biblical teaching on giving would be to remain, as far as possible, anonymous — to the extent that one’s left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. Jesus says in the Gospel of Matthew, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you”.
The Japanese have received accolades from all over the world for their resilience in this hour of great tragedy. The people have remained calm in the face of shortage of food and water. There is no hoarding. In fact, people are sensible and sensitive enough to take from stores only what they need and leave the rest for others. This is the real spirit of sharing and giving.
While the events in Japan may spur us to give generously, it is good to remember the saying: “Do all the good you can; by all the means you can; in all the ways you can, in all the places you can; at all the times you can; to all the people you can; as long as ever you can.”

— Father Dominic Emmanuel, a founder-member of Parliament of Religions, is currently the director of communication of the Delhi Catholic Church. He was awarded the National Communal Harmony Award 2008 by the Government of India. He can be contacted at frdominic@gmail.com