One of my greatest pleasures is to encourage birds of many varieties into my garden. I grow the right sort of shrubs and trees to provide habitat, feature ponds and water elements so that they may not go thirsty and.....I offer food in the form of nuts and seeds of divers kinds, in order to keep them free from starvation and able to reproduce fully in the season.
But, it all costs money and when I watch the television news and see children dying for lack of food in Somalia, the Sudan, Ethiopia and all points east of London, my conscience begins to simmer.
Love of our fellow man is the second most important commandment; The scriptures do not say: "feed my goldfinches and woodpeckers." In fact, quite the opposite:
Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?
In all honesty I am unable to continue to fully support the birds, my fellow man is crying out for help and what sort of Catholic would I be to ignore their pleas?
When I die and stand before God almighty and He says to me: "My Son, how have you looked after your fellow man, the poor, the homeless, the starving?" Am I going to say to my Saviour: "Well, I provided some 300 lbs of peanuts and I don't know how many coconuts for the bluetits in my garden over the years". I don't think so.
Instead, I hope to be able to say: "My Lord and all, I have given a bit of what I have earned to those most in need but (and this is the real point) I also spent a small bit of dosh on birdseed and the like because looking after some of your lesser creatures helped to keep me sane and in touch with You, the Lord and Maker of all.
God knows that we are weak and fallible and that we need foibles to prop ourselves up. The odd pint of beer, an occasional flutter on the horses, maybe, even the odd Monte Cristo, a rare supper for two at the restaurant of your choice, a few pounds of sunflower or niger seeds; these are all part of our support mechanisms that keep us going. Keep us able to earn real money so that we may also provide for those less fortunate. We are, after all, only human. we cannot all be saints. We do need to have some form of secular pleasure, pray that it is in the form of buying birdfood rather than TV watching!
'All in moderation' is the watch phrase but also: 'Feed the poor and the homeless'.
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| "The Somalis only get rotting rice grains" |
Love of our fellow man is the second most important commandment; The scriptures do not say: "feed my goldfinches and woodpeckers." In fact, quite the opposite:
Behold the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they reap, nor gather into barns: and your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than they?
In all honesty I am unable to continue to fully support the birds, my fellow man is crying out for help and what sort of Catholic would I be to ignore their pleas?
When I die and stand before God almighty and He says to me: "My Son, how have you looked after your fellow man, the poor, the homeless, the starving?" Am I going to say to my Saviour: "Well, I provided some 300 lbs of peanuts and I don't know how many coconuts for the bluetits in my garden over the years". I don't think so.
Instead, I hope to be able to say: "My Lord and all, I have given a bit of what I have earned to those most in need but (and this is the real point) I also spent a small bit of dosh on birdseed and the like because looking after some of your lesser creatures helped to keep me sane and in touch with You, the Lord and Maker of all.
God knows that we are weak and fallible and that we need foibles to prop ourselves up. The odd pint of beer, an occasional flutter on the horses, maybe, even the odd Monte Cristo, a rare supper for two at the restaurant of your choice, a few pounds of sunflower or niger seeds; these are all part of our support mechanisms that keep us going. Keep us able to earn real money so that we may also provide for those less fortunate. We are, after all, only human. we cannot all be saints. We do need to have some form of secular pleasure, pray that it is in the form of buying birdfood rather than TV watching!
'All in moderation' is the watch phrase but also: 'Feed the poor and the homeless'.
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