The Charity of Christ

For many years, I worked for the Daughters of Charity at a hospital. There, I became familiar with their creed: "The charity of Christ crucified urges us." That motto, if you will, has come to me often in the past few weeks. Christ does indeed urge me, I feel the insistent tug on my heart to follow him where he is leading me. I don't know where that is, and that causes some anxiety. The Lord has promised me a big change in my life and I have had plenty of those in the last few months! Christ Jesus has a heart for charity. Not in the way we think of it, though - he didn't hand out money to "charitable" organizations. Jesus didn't serve others via check writing. He got down and dirty - quite literally - washing the feet of others, eating with sinners, loving the unlovely. The ultimate charitable act, Christ crucified, is beyond my ability to understand. This morning I was in prayer and feeling bad about some of the things that had happened to me. But then I remembered that in no way, at no time, will I ever suffer as Christ did. No one has flogged me, beat me, stabbed me or crucified me. My Lord and Savior went through all of this willingly, as an act of charity, to save me. And you. And everyone who believes.