Fr. Jerry Pokorsky: Maintaining Christian Charity in Times of Upheaval

By Fr. Jerry Pokorsky, Catholic Culture, Oct 19, 2020

Fr. Jerry Pokorsky is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington who has also served as a financial administrator in the Diocese of Lincoln. Trained in business and accounting, he also holds a Master of Divinity and a Master’s in moral theology. …

We live in a culture with a high ideological “hate quotient”—a noxious mix of contempt, unjust accusations, and volatile emotional reactions. But as Christians, we cannot give in to hatred and contempt, lest we place our souls at risk. “Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be liable to the hell of fire.” (Mt. 5:22)

How, with God’s grace, do we maintain Christian charity without slipping into the escapism of indifference and sentimentality?

When Jesus presents the coin with the image of Caesar and says, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s” (Mt. 22:21), He knows the people despise the Romans. Yet Jesus reveals that even the hated Roman emperor has rights under God’s dominion, including the privileges that come with the minting and ownership of that money. There is even a faint echo from Genesis that God created everyone—including our enemies—in his image and likeness, with intrinsic dignity and human rights.  …

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