On Charity

One of my favorite Thomas Merton quotes I have found thus far in "No Man is an Island" is:

 “One who is content with what he has, and who accepts the fact that he inevitably misses very much in life, is far better off than one who has much more but who worries about all he may be missing . . . the relative perfection which we must attain to in this life if we are to live as sons of God is not the twenty-four-hour-a-day production of perfect acts of virtue, but a life from which practically all the obstacles to God's love have been removed or overcome. One of the chief obstacles to this perfection of selfless charity is the selfish anxiety to get the most out of everything, to be a brilliant success in our own eyes and in the eyes of other men."

From this quote, I gather that one of the main concepts behind charity for Thomas Merton is not the perfect charity-driven life, but rather a life in which one seeks to live in perfect love and communion with God. For Merton, it seems to be more personal, at least in his definition of "selfless" charity. Merton seems to speak about charity more in terms of love, which contrasts to Massaro who seems to refer to charity more from the viewpoint of Catholic social teaching. However, both seem to get at the same point with what charity is, although they define it a bit differently. My own definition of charity is giving back to others, not necessarily always others in need but also to one's friends, family, etc., and doing so out of love. I would define the relationship between charity and contemplation to be that contemplation is something one must do before or after performing an act of charity-in this way, one has the ability to learn and grow more from the experience. Not only are you physically helping, but through contemplation, you are helping yourself grow emotionally and spiritually.