{"id":3584,"date":"2023-03-22T13:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-22T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/chi-non-da-dio-da-troppo-poco\/"},"modified":"2023-07-27T16:13:55","modified_gmt":"2023-07-27T14:13:55","slug":"chi-non-da-dio-da-troppo-poco","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/chi-non-da-dio-da-troppo-poco\/","title":{"rendered":"He who does not give God gives too"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/picture>
A street of Washington, D.C. (USA).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

These days, it\u2019s rare to see people in the U.S. with cash. We are used to paying for things with credit cards or apps on our phones. If on the one hand it makes things easier, on the other, it makes it hard to perform an important dimension of Christian life: almsgiving. Over time, I have learned to arm myself by asking for change in dollar bills that I keep in the glove compartment of my car, so I can always have something ready to give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few days ago, while I was stopped at a red light, an older African- American man was walking between the cars asking for change. Immediately, I opened the glove compartment to get some money, but with painful surprise, I saw that it was empty. When the man arrived next to my car, I rolled down the window and said with regret: \u201cLook, I\u2019m really sorry, but I don\u2019t have anything to give you.\u201d Out of the corner of my eye, I saw  75 cents next to the transmission. Exultantly, I exclaimed: \u201cWait, it\u2019s not much, but I have something to give you!\u201d Even before my exclamation, he had approached my window. I dropped the change in his paper cup, content but a little upset. I said: \u201cIt\u2019s really not a lot, but unfortunately I don\u2019t have anything else.\u201d I noticed that the man, ignoring the money in the cup, was staring at me. \u201cFather, I beg you, please give me a blessing.\u201d For a fraction of a second, I was speechless. I didn\u2019t understand his request: wasn\u2019t he asking for change? I was upset that I didn\u2019t have a dignified amount to give him, and he was asking me for a blessing! Reflexively, I lifted my arm and traced the sign of the Cross, pronouncing the benediction. \u201cThank you, Father! Thank you!,\u201d he said to me with glazed eyes and left. The stop light turned green, and the cars started moving. Lost in my thoughts, I wasn\u2019t able to comprehend what had just happened: an old man, asking for change at a stoplight in the middle of winter, recognizing that he had a priest in front of him, asked for a benediction instead of worrying about the amount of money that he had received.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Maybe it was for this reason that in front of a priest he did not ask for money, but instead, there came forth from within him the ancient need to know that he is thought of and blessed by the Father.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What was that man\u2019s story? What had happened that landed him in that dramatic situation? Did he not have a family, a warm place with people who were waiting for him? Was he not the subject of someone\u2019s thoughts, of their attention and of their affection? Or was he completely alone, abandoned unto himself, obliged to beg for alms to survive? Who knows, maybe this was the cruel reality. Maybe it was for this reason that in front of a priest he did not ask for money, which he could have received from anyone, but instead, there came forth from within him the ancient need to know that he is thought of and blessed by the Father. A phrase of Benedict XVI came to mind: \u201cWhoever does not give God gives too little.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An episode, apparently unimportant, reveals one of the deepest needs of the heart: the knowledge of being loved. A story from the United States. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1972,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"slim_seo":{"title":"He who does not give God gives too - Fraternity of St. Charles","description":"An episode, apparently unimportant, reveals one of the deepest needs of the heart: the knowledge of being loved. A story from the United States."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[478,473,476],"writers":[15],"regions":[387],"cities":[449],"class_list":["post-3584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-testimonies","tag-carita-en","tag-missione-en","tag-sacerdozio-en","writers-tommaso-badiani","regions-north-america","cities-washington-d-c-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3586,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3584\/revisions\/3586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"writers","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/writers?post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/regions?post=3584"},{"taxonomy":"cities","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sancarlo.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cities?post=3584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}