DANIEL CONOR

Target: £99,999.00

Raised:£0.00

Progress: 0`%`

Title: PLEASE GIVE CHARITY AND HELP HUMANITY

Start Date: 11-Dec-2011

End Date: 11-Dec-2099

About my fundraising

GOD IS PURE AND UNIVERSAL LOVE. GOD CREATED HUMANS FROM LOVE. THE SOLE PURPOSE OF HUMAN EXISTANCE IS TO GIVE AND RECEIVE LOVE. SO TRY TO HAVE UNIVERSAL LOVE FOR EVERYONE IN YOUR HEART. HELP HUMANITY AND GIVE CHARITY AS YOU CAN.

What Did Jesus Teach About Charity?

During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ was asked which commandment was the greatest or most important. He answered, ?Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.? (Matthew 22:37-40)

For the Savior, love and charity were identical. All of His acts of charity were done not from a sense of duty, but from a deep feeling of love for all He encountered. He didn?t limit His service to His friends, although He served His friends as well. He didn?t limit it to those who were wealthy or mi... more

What Did Jesus Teach About Charity?

We can best learn how the Savior felt about charity by observing how He treated others during His ministry. One day the scribes and Pharisees brought to him a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They reminded him the law required her to be stoned and asked what He thought they should do. Their goal wasn?t to seek advice, but to trap Him. However, He acted exactly as He would have if the motive had been pure. The world couldn?t influence how He treated others. He knelt down, writing in the dirt as if He hadn?t heard them. They continued to ask and He responded, ?He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.? (John chapter eight) Chastened, the men began to leave. When Jesus and the woman were alone, He asked her if any accusers remained, and she said they had not. He gently told her he didn?t accuse her either-but warned her not to sin again.

This is one of the more powerful examples of the Savior?s charity. He rescued her from humiliation and death, preserved a certain amount of dignity by refusing to judge her worthiness for his act of service, and counseled her on how to avoid the same problem in the future.

One day a blind man called out to him for help. The man had been advised by others not to bother Jesus. After all, he was only a blind beggar, not someone ?important? by the world?s standards. However, Jesus heard him and called the man to him. He asked how he could help, and the man asked for his sight. Jesus not only restored the man?s sight, but sent a clear message to those who had deemed him unworthy of the Lord?s charity. He told the man it was his own faith that had healed him. This man, seemingly unimportant, had possessed sufficient faith to heal himself, and this certainly sent a gentle rebuke to those who had dismissed him as being unimportant or unworthy of notice.

The Savior?s charity always helped people learn to respect themselves because of the way he treated them. Everyone received his respect. It removed roadblocks and rewarded them for their own efforts when possible. It pointed them in the direction of a better life. His charity also addressed small but immediate needs, such as feeding the multitudes because they were, at that moment, hungry. Every person in the multitude was fed.

Although it was not the primary purpose for telling this story, Jesus told a parable about a rich man who lived in an elegant home. Outside his gates lived a beggar named Lazarus. (Notice Jesus names the poor man, but doesn?t bother to name the rich man, even though the story is mostly about the rich man.) The wealthy man doesn?t do anything to serve or help the beggar, who was in need of food and medical care. When both men die, it is the poor man who receives the reward, and the rich man suffers eternal punishment, which he, naturally, finds upsetting. When he asks that Lazarus be sent in to serve him and help him feel better, Abraham says, ?Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.?

The Savior made clear in this parable that a person who refuses to serve others and to practice charity can?t expect to receive charity for himself when it?s needed.

The Three Theological Virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity

The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief. By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from God, eternal life and the graces to merit it. By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).

Faith

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s] through charity."

The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

Hope

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity. Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people, which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations."

Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire. We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved."

Charity

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. Jesus makes charity the new commandment. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." And again: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love." Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.

The Apostle Paul says: "charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." "If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity." The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.

The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion. Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works.

Good Deeds Bible Quotes

"A good tree cannot bear worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the fire. Really, then, by their fruits you will recognize those men." (Matt 7:18 to 20).

"Become doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves with false reasoning. For if anyone is a hearer of the word, and not a doer, this one is like a man looking at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, and off he goes and immediately forgets what sort of man he is. But he who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and who persists in it, this man, because he has become, not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be happy in his doing it." (James 1:22-25).

"Little children, let us love, neither in word nor with the tongue, but in deed and truth." (1 John 3:18).

"Try to find out what would please the Lord; take no part in the barren deeds of darkness, but show them up for what they are." (Eph 5:10,11).

"Whatever you are doing, whether you speak or act, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." (Col 3:17).

"May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and gave everlasting comfort and good hope by means of undeserved kindness, comfort your hearts and make you firm in every good deed and word." (2 Thess 2:16,17).

"In case some one of your brothers becomes poor among you in one of your cities, in your land that Jehovah your God is giving you, you must not harden your heart or be closefisted toward your poor brother. For you should generously open your hand to him and by all means lend him on pledge as much as he needs, which he is in want of... You should by all means give to him, and your heart should not be stingy in your giving to him, because on this account Jehovah your God will bless you in every deed of yours and in every undertaking of yours. For someone poor will never cease to be in the midst of the land. That is why I am commanding you, saying, 'You should generously open up your hand to your afflicted and poor brother in your land." (Deut 15:7-11).

"My brothers, what use is it for a man to say he has faith when he does nothing to show it? Can that faith save him? Suppose a brother or a sister is in rags with not enough food for the day, and one of you says, 'Good luck to you, keep yourselves warm, and have plenty to eat', but does nothing to supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So with faith; if it does not lead to action, it is in itself a lifeless thing." (James 2:14-17).

The Lord "has no favourites at the poor man's expense, but listens to his prayer when he is wronged." (Eccus 35:13).

THE HOLY BIBLE ABOUT CHARITY

New International Version (©1984) Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." New Living Translation (©2007) Jesus told him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

International Standard Version (©2008) Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go and sell what you own and give the money to the destitute, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come back and follow me."

American King James Version Jesus said to him, If you will be perfect, go and sell that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

American Standard Version Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Douay-Rheims Bible Jesus saith to him: If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.

Darby Bible Translation Jesus said to him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.

English Revised Version Jesus said unto him, If thou wouldest be perfect, go, sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

Webster's Bible Translation Jesus said to him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.

Weymouth New Testament "If you desire to be perfect," replied Jesus, "go and sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you shall have wealth in Heaven; and come, follow me."

World English Bible Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."

Young's Literal Translation Jesus said to him, 'If thou dost will to be perfect, go away, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come, follow me.'

The Bible and Charity The Bible teaches that everything that we own comes from God:

The earth is the Lord?s, and every thing in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1

For Christians, this means not only that they need to be grateful for everything they have, but that they should also be ready to part with any of their possessions if it is God's will.

However, Christians are also taught to give routinely - they should regularly set aside a specific amount for charity:

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD... The entire tithe of the herd and flock?every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod?will be holy to the LORD. Leviticus 27:30, 32

Some Christians keep strictly to the 10% laid out in the Old Testament. However, Jesus was wary of people who were legalistic, and taught that all giving should be done with a joyful heart.

What sorrow awaits you Pharisees! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. Luke 11:42

Paul also warned against following the letter of the law without actually caring for others. The most important thing is to love others:

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:3

As well as giving to charity simply to follow the letter of the law, some people give to charity just to look good. Jesus warned against this:

Watch out! Don?t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven.When you give to someone in need, don?t do as the hypocrites do?blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. But when you give to someone in need, don?t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you. Matthew 6:1-4

Paul reinforced the idea that you should give out of love, with a cheerful heart. His teaching also suggests that Christians should not keep strictly to 10% in their giving - they should think carefully about it and give as much as they can afford.

You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don?t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. For God loves a person who gives cheerfully. 2 Corinthians 9:7

JESUS CHRIST AND CHARITY

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of charity. A charitable person is forgiving, understanding, service-oriented, humble, always willing to help, and always looks at people in a tolerant or favorable way. Christ demonstrated all of these characteristics with the people He served and met. Jesus Christ demonstrated charity constantly and encouraged His followers to do the same. However, His greatest acts of charity were His suffering in Gethsemane and the sacrifice of His life on the cross, through which we all have the opportunity to have everlasting life and live with Heavenly Father again. Jesus? earthly ministry was filled with examples of charity. In the New Testament, we read about the woman who committed adultery. Her peers wanted to stone her. The law found adultery punishable by death. Jesus Christ condemned the community, forgave the woman, and told her to sin no more. Christ taught that it is God?s role to judge, not man?s. Jesus understands that mistakes are necessary for men and women to progress. He has empathy for all. During his earthly ministry, Jesus would give blessings to the sick on the Sabbath. Although it was His day to rest, he still found joy in serving and healing others. He also considered the law of charity and love superior to letter of the law of the Sabbath. Jesus Christ told his followers to love one another. He taught us to be charitable and selfless. He would befriend the outcast, dine with sinners, and devote his time to building up others. Through His example, we can find the qualities we should desire to emulate. Jesus taught his followers to be humble, including those in high positions of authority and leadership. For example, the religious leaders of His day were preoccupied with the acquisition of riches and showy clothing. Jesus Christ rebuked them in Matthew 15:6-9, saying, ??these people draw near to Me with their mouths, and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.? He taught that we should not follow the lures of worldliness, but follow the laws of God. He taught that there is no room for hypocrisy in the kingdom of God. Our beliefs must be in line with our actions.

Christ could have been arrogant or prideful, for He was all-powerful. Instead, He found reason to be charitable. Jesus Christ taught us to love all people, even those who are hard to love. There were many during His lifetime who hated Him and wanted to destroy Him and his mission. Yet He still showed charity to those who despised Him. True charity is to love unconditionally. He was committed to uplifting others, even those who had been forgotten or abandoned.

Christ?s life is the ultimate example of charity. Through His example, we can learn how to find happiness and how to enrich the lives of others. Christ shows us that if we put others first, we can find true joy. In truth, the definition of charity is the pure love of Christ. Charity is actually one of the spiritual gifts, and as such, can be acquired as a gift from Christ. It should be sought with prayer and diligence: Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail?

But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him (Moroni 7:46-47).

CHARITY IN BUDDHISM

Real Charity

You perform real charity if you can give freely without expecting anything in return.

The essence of true charity is to give something without expecting anything in return for the gift. If a person expects some material benefit to arise from his gift, he is only performing an act of bartering and not charity. A charitable person should not make other people feel indebted to him or use charity as a way of exercising control over them. He should not even expect others to be grateful, for most people are forgetful though not necessarily ungrateful. The act of true charity is wholesome, has no strings attached, and leaves both the giver and the recipient free.

The meritorious deed of charity is highly praised by every religion. Those who have enough to maintain themselves should think of others and extend their generosity deserving cases. Among people who practise charity, there are some who give as a means of attracting others into their religion or creed. Such an act of giving which is performed with the ulterior motive of conversion cannot really be said to be true charity.

The Buddhism views charity as an act to reduce personal greed which is an unwholesome mental state which hinders spiritual progress. A person who is on his way to spiritual growth must try to reduce his own selfishness and his strong desire for acquiring more and more. He should reduce his strong attachment to possessions which, if he is not mindful, can enslave him to greed. What he owns or has should instead be used for the benefit and happiness of others: his loved ones as well as those who need his help.

When giving, a person should not perform charity as an act of his body alone, but with his heart and mind as well. There must be joy in every act of giving. A distinction can be made between giving as a normal act of generosity and dana. In the normal act of generosity a person gives out of compassion and kindness when he realizes that someone else is in need of help, and he is in the position to offer the help. When a person performs dana, he gives as a means of cultivating charity as a virtue and of reducing his own selfishness and craving. He exercises wisdom when he recalls that dana is a very important quality to be practised by every Buddhist, and is the first perfection (paramita)practised by the Buddha in many of His previous births in search for Enlightenment. A person performs dana in appreciation of the great qualities and virtues of the Triple Gem.

There are many things which a person can give. He can give material things: food for the hungry, and money and clothes to the poor. He can also give his knowledge, skill, time, energy or effort to projects that can benefit others. He can provide a sympathetic ear and good counsel to a friend in trouble. He can restrain himself from killing other beings, and by so doing perform a gift of life to the helpless beings which would have otherwise been killed. He can also give a part of his body for the sake of others, such as donating his blood, eyes, kidney, etc. Some who seek to practise this virtue or are moved by great compassion or concern for others may also be prepared to sacrifice their own lives. In His previous births, the Bodhisatta had many a time given away parts of His body for the sake of others. He had also given up His life so that others might live, so great was His generosity and compassion.

But the greatest testimony to the Buddha's great compassion is His priceless gift to humanity?the Dhamma which can liberate all beings from suffering. To the Buddhist, the highest gift of all is the gift of Dhamma. This gift has great powers to change a life. When a person receives Dhamma with a pure mind and practices the Truth with earnestness, he cannot fail to change. He will experience greater happiness, peace and joy in his heart and mind. If he was once cruel, he becomes compassionate. If he was once revengeful, he becomes forgiving. Through Dhamma, the hateful becomes more compassionate, the greedy more generous, and the restless more serene. When a person has tasted Dhamma, not only will be experience happiness here and now, but also happiness in the lives hereafter as he journeys to Nibbana.

Perfection of Giving

Giving is essential to Buddhism. Giving includes charity, or giving material help to people in want. It also includes giving spiritual guidance to those who seek it and loving kindness to all who need it. However, one's motivation for giving to others is at least as important as what is given.

What is right or wrong motivation? The Anguttara Nikaya, a collection of texts in the Vinaya-pitaka section of the Pali Canon, lists a number of motivations for practicing charity. These include being shamed or intimidated into giving; giving to receive a favor; giving to feel good about yourself. These are impure motivations.

The Buddha taught that when we give to others, we give without expectation of reward. We give without attaching to either the gift or the recipient. We practice giving to release greed and self-clinging.

Some teachers propose that giving is good because it accrues merit and creates karma that will bring future happiness. Others say that even this is self-clinging and an expectation of reward. In Mahayana Buddhism in particular, any merit that might come with giving is to be dedicated to the liberation of others.

Paramitas

Giving with pure motivation is called dana paramita, or "perfection of giving." It is first in a list of paramitas, or perfections, that are to be cultivated in Buddhist practice. The Six Perfections are:

Dana paramita, perfection of giving Shila paramita, perfection of discipline Kshanti paramita, perfection of patience Virya paramita, perfection of exertion Dhyana paramita, perfection of meditation Prajna paramita, perfection of wisdom Avoiding Extremes

The last paramita, wisdom, ties back to the first. As long as we are sorting ourselves into givers and receivers, we are still falling short of dana paramita. Wisdom teaches us that there is giving and receiving, but there are no givers and no receivers.

At the same time, there is no giving without receiving. In a sense, giving and receiving are one. If giving is "good," then receiving is equally good.

Shohaku Okumura wrote in Soto Zen Journal that for a time he didn't want to receive gifts from others, thinking that he should be giving, not taking. "When we understand this teaching in this way, we simply create another standard to measure gaining and losing. We are still in the framework of gaining and losing," he wrote.

In Japan, when monks carry out traditional alms begging, they wear huge straw hats that partly obscure their faces. The hats also prevent them from seeing the faces of those giving them alms. No giver, no receiver; this is pure giving.

less

P.S. When you make a donation, don't forget to check the Gift Aid box if you're a UK taxpayer as then your charity can claim an extra 25% from the government!

Raised by	Type	Amount	GiftAid*	Comment
* Gift Aid amount shown is not included in the appeal total and is dependent on confirmation from HMRC. ** Pledges are not included in the total until they are paid. The transactions listed on this page may not add up to the total shown at the top. It is not always possible to display all transactions.