Christian Quotes on Love and Works, a Parable on Redistribution or Government Social Justice

Without love, deeds, even the most brilliant, count as nothing."
- St. Therese of Lisieux


"It is not the magnitude of our actions but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."
- Mother Teresa

A Parable on non-Catholic Social Justice (i.e. Government Redistribution of Wealth):It is not love that makes one decide it is good to take money from someone and give it to another. Nor does that count as being good to the poor.  Be generous yourself and bless your own gift with God's love, who will then multiply its effects, like He did with the loaves. Without Love, there is no real charity.


A group of neighbors decided that a less fortunate neighbor needed some help. They had a vote among all the neighbors to decide if they should take some of the belongings from a wealthier neighbor and give them to the poor neighbor.  The vote was in favor of the idea and some belongings were taken from the wealthier neighbor.  While receiving the objects was helpful for the poor individual, he felt no charity and was unmoved by the generosity because there was no charity involved in the transaction. He actually felt worse by seeing how it all happened but the majority told him he deserved those belongings and assured him it was all good. The rich person was personally moved away from a sense of dignity and honest charity since the redistribution was not of his free will and not a gift. Instead, his heart became hardened and indifferent towards the majority of his neighbors as he feared more would be taken from him.  He began to store and stash away more than he did beforehand, in places the neighbors couldn't get to it.  The poor neighbor accepted the idea that this redistribution was a fair way of balancing things out and continued to rely on frequent gifts, gifts he said were from the majority. He thanked the majority for doing this for him and the majority felt good and proud about themselves and the good they had done.


There was not one act of Love in this whole transaction.  There was sympathy, followed by a desire to remediate the poor man's condition, followed by collective sin so that the sin wouldn't feel like the stealing that it is, followed by pride.  The end goal that the majority had in mind is desirable but the means makes all the difference. Re-distribution and generosity must be voluntary; otherwise it is extortion and agreed upon robbery, and its effects are similar to these crimes.

--Christopher Majella Paul