CATHOLIC FAITHWATCH: “[Almsgiving, Lent, the Final Judgment] – John Paul II General Audience, Wednesday, March 28, 1979” – VaticanVa
“Only with a total attitude — in his relationship with God … himself and … his neighbor — does man reach conversion and remain in the state of conversion. ‘Alms’ … has a meaning … decisive for this conversion. … recall the image of the Last Judgment that Christ gave us: ‘… I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink … a stranger and you welcomed Me. … naked and you clothed Me … sick and you visited Me … in prison and you came to Me. … * * * Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me’ (Mt 25:35-40). … the Fathers of the Church will then say with St Peter Chrysologus: ‘The poor man’s hand is the treasury of Christ, since Christ receives everything that the poor man receives’ (Sermo VIII, 4), and with St. Gregory of Nazianzus: ‘The Lord of all things wants mercy, not sacrifice; and we give it through the poor’ (De patuperum amore, XI). … this opening to others … expressed by ‘help,’ by ‘sharing’ food, a glass of water, a good word, consolation, a visit, precious time, etc., this interior gift offered to the other man, arrives directly at Christ, directly at God. It decides the meeting with Him. It is conversion. … many texts in the Gospel … confirm this … also in the whole of Scripture. ‘Alms’ understood according to the Gospel, according to the teaching of Christ, has a definitive, decisive meaning in our conversion to God. If alms be lacking, our life does not yet converge fully towards God. …”