THE United Nations (UN) designated Sept. 5 as the annual International Day of Charity. Charity, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is the act of “generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering.”
According to the UN website, the International Day of Charity was established “with the objective of sensitizing and mobilizing people, non-governmental organizations and stakeholders all around the world to to help others through volunteer and philanthropic activities.”
Sept. 5 was selected as a way to commemorate the death anniversary of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Popularly known as Mother Teresa, the Albanian-Indian Roman Catholic nun and missionary received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 “for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace.”
She was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on Sept. 4, 2016, and is now recognized as St. Teresa of Calcutta.
There is no better time for people to practice charity than today while in the midst of a pandemic. There are several ways to share as well: Some people choose to give out personal protective equipment to those in need, while some choose to purchase food items from local businesses and hand these out to places like nursing homes or orphanages.
Others perhaps, choose to support the arts by purchasing works done by local artists, or some companies choose to invest in the fight against the coronavirus so as to help their hundreds or thousands of employees maintain a decent living.
Whatever the case, generosity is a gem these days. Choose to give.
Here are some of our favorite quotes from Nobel Peace Prize winner St. Teresa of Calcutta which, we hope, can inspire each and every one of us:
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.”
“Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.”
“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work.”
“Intense love does not measure; it just gives.”
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”
“Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.”
”It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”
”Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough; money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.”
“Good works are links that form a chain of love.”
“One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.”