Dr. Helen Titilola OLOJEDE

 

In the past, we have discussed faith and hope. Charity, or caritas, the third theological virtue, is the one by which a person loves God above all things for his own sake and loves others for the sake of God. It is different from kindness, generosity or affection. Charity is participation in God's own love and therefore expresses the deepest relationship among the human person, God, and neighbour. Charity has God as its origin, motive and ultimate end.

The foundation of charity is found in Christ's commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind”, and, inseparably, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). The two commandments belong together. Love of God cannot be separated from genuine love of neighbour. For us Christians, therefore, charity is not merely an inward disposition towards God but a way of living that necessarily affects our relationship with other people.

 

The Catholic tradition understands charity as more than an emotion. Feelings of affection may accompany love, but charity involves a deliberate willing of the good of another. To love another person is to desire that person's genuine flourishing, dignity and ultimate good. This is why charity can sometimes require sacrifice. It may mean forgiving someone who has caused harm, caring for someone who cannot repay the favour, defending the vulnerable, sharing one's resources, or choosing patience when anger would be easier. Charity, therefore, transforms love from something we merely feel into something we choose and practise.

 

 

St Thomas Aquinas gives charity a particularly profound theological interpretation. For Aquinas, charity is a friendship between God and us. Through charity, we are united to God in love. This is possible because God first gives us the capacity to love Him through grace. Charity is therefore not simply the achievement of our moral effort. It is a supernatural gift infused by God. We as Christians respond to this gift by allowing divine love to shape our relationships with others. This explains why St Paul places charity above the other virtues: “So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians 13:13). Faith enables the Christian to believe in God, and hope enables the Christian to trust in God's promises and desire eternal life. Charity brings these virtues to their perfection because it unites the believer directly to God in love. Faith may begin the journey and hope sustains it, but charity expresses the fulfilment towards which the Christian life is directed.

 

In summary, charity is the virtue that gives Christian life its deepest orientation: to receive God's love, to love God in return, and to become an instrument of that love for others.