ZAKAT- TITHE – TZEDAKAH

(Published in Kolkata MTC Souvenir 2019)

“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”     Matthew 6:1

Every single race and religion on the face of this earth encourages and practices charity, obviously to the poor and needy. From the beginning of community rich and poor; and it has increased only over the centuries and millenniums. Even in the great metropolitan cities like Los Angeles, Seoul, London or Paris, there would be a noticeable percentage of people in some corner with zero or low income and depending on some shelter or institution for food or shelter.

Kolkata-the City of Joy-once the capital of the British Raj- a metropolitan city-How many thousands are sleeping under the flyovers and on the pavements? We can’t forget the number of slums all over the city either, right?

There are over 6 lakhs villages in India, of which lakhs of people still lack basic necessities like water, electricity, proper hygiene and sanitation. There are still 43,000 villages in India without mobile services. So you can imagine….

Who are the poor and needy? How can we help them?

Zakat is a term I recently learned from an article on FB. It is one of the pillars of Islam-a mandatory practice of charity. Tzedakah is the Jewish tradition of giving alms. For us Christians, giving donation has never been compulsory or forced, but it’s supposed to be in our genes.  Jesus commends highly on the poor widow who gave away two small copper coins at the synagogue, which was all that she had. He always said to do good deeds without showing it to the whole world to project yourself. Humans love to boast and to see their names highlighted. But as long as the all-knowing Almighty sees our ‘acts of righteousness’, we have no one else to prove ourselves to. The name and fame we enjoy here for a ‘projected’ charity work will just turn into dust one day.

I have seen many people giving-money, time, energy-for the Lord, for the poor. As I grew up, my exposure to the poor was quite limited. So, whenever I heard of a poor or needy one’s condition, I turned my face from it, putting myself in a comfort zone. Jagaddal has taught me to widen my outlook and to see beyond my eye span to understand the agony. It is not always about money. Maybe they need just an ear to listen to them, a pat on the shoulder or a voice to comfort them by saying ‘Don’t worry’. Jagaddal has taught me to CARE.

Jesus taught us to give out of love and not out of duty. “Whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” (Matthew 25:45) Pope Benedict XVI says giving our money is not mere philanthropy. It is a virtue that we should inculcate in our lives by transforming our love of God into action-just like Jesus died on the cross and gave his life for us-transforming God’s love.

There is a beautiful episode in the 1964 motion picture ‘Mary Poppins’ Mary Poppins, a nanny with magic powers, tells the children Jane and Michael about a poor old lady who sits on the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral and sells bread crumbs. ‘Come feed the birds, show them you care, and you’ll be glad if you do. Their young ones are hungry, their nests are so bare, all it takes is tuppence form you.’ One bag of crumbs just costed a tuppence (which hardly values two pennies). Michael has a tuppence in his pocket as he accompanies his father to the bank one day. He wishes to give it to the old lady, who he sees at the cathedral on his way, just like Mary Poppins had told. But his father, one megalomaniac, money-minded man, disagrees and tells him to make more money rather than giving it away. This small tuppence leads to the climax of the film, when Michael’s father learns that there are more important things in life than his work and making money, and he becomes a better father. Surely the story would have been different if Michael had given the tuppence to the bird lady. But through this, May Poppins taught the good virtue of charity and giving to that whole family.

Mother Teresa, the best epitome of service to the poor, and that too, right here in Kolkata, one said, “It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving” -that’s what matters. God gives us things to SHARE, not to hold. Even a small gesture of kindness might even save a life. Heaven rejoices when you give CHEERFULLY and SELFLESSLY. We keep purifying our souls by giving and making a difference in this world. There are many tired, depressed and drained souls out there who need our help - FOR IT IS IN GIVING THAT WE RECEIVE (-St. Francis of Assisi).

There’s a song many of you might know which tells the story of the disciples helping a person in need. He asked for money, but what did they give?

Peter and John went to pray, they met a lame man on their way.

He asked for alms and held out his palms, but this is what Peter did say:

Silver and Gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee;

In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazereth,

Rise up and walk.”

You can imagine what happened after that.

Do good, feel good and receive good. We have a good Lord who has PLENTY of EVERYTHING. SHARE a bit from what you get.