Charity in the Family and Drive-By Birthdays

Hello ladies (and maybe gents)!

Its April!  Hip hip hooray!

This month we'll be talking about the three Theological Virtues; Faith, Hope, and Love, or Charity.  Today, I just wanted to touch lightly on Charity so forgive me for going out of 'theological order.'  😉  As we are all in quarantine in our homes with our families, we may be struggling to find ways to spread love.  Or maybe we're struggling to show charity to the members of our family we're with 24/7 now.  

First off, I'd like to encourage you to lift your chin up.  Things are not as dark as they may seem.  God is in His Heaven and He's in control.  You may be going on 2 or three weeks at home with your family members and it might be getting a little tough, but we have to remember this isn't permanent.  So don't despair thinking you've lost all contact with your friends forever.  Instead, take this opportunity to grow in grace and charity towards your family.  Oftentimes, we can be so much more kind and patient with people outside of our immediate family, but now we have a wonderful opportunity.  Let's go the extra mile for mom or take a deep breath before exploding at that annoying sibling.  Spring is here and with it, new beginnings.  Let's begin again each day to love God and our families not just because we have to, but because in loving them, we love Our Lord.  Christ showed us just how to love His entire life on Earth.  He showed us a sacrificial love that extended to offering Himself upon the cross.  If He can do that for us poor sinners, we can love our families with the same love.  But how can we change our attitude sometimes so drastically?  Let's take these words of St. Mother Teresa:

"Let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love."

Even when you don't feel like it, smile.  It can change your whole world.  It could change someone else's world too.

So in addition to loving our families, its always good to show love and charity to others outside of our immediate family.  This can seem challenging, however, since we've all been told to stay in our homes and limit social contact.  But its not hopeless!  You can get out and love your neighbor!  If you and your family members are healthy, check-in with elderly priests and people you know.  See if they need groceries.  You can run errands for them.

My other idea though is drive-by birthdays!  It really is sad not to be able to celebrate a special occasion with friends, especially a birthday.  (They do only come once a year.)  So instead of hosting or attending a party, grab your family and drive by their house with a mini celebration.  You could take flowers, balloons, candy, confetti, and a card and drop it on their doorstep.  Ring the doorbell and then head for the curb.  You can sing happy birthday from there!  And then you actually get to see your loved one in person, not just over Skype while still maintaining social distancing.  I know its not the same as giving them a big birthday hug, but your friend or family member will still be able to feel your love in your thoughtful gesture.  My family and I just did this the other day and it was so much fun!  If you're able to do this or something else that shows charity to your neighbor, please let me know how it turned out in the comments below!

 In corde Mariae,

Sarah <3