[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 11]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             CHARITY DOES NOT COME FROM GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 30, 2016

  Mr. DUNCAN of Tennessee. Mr. Speaker, the best, most effective 
charity does not come from government agencies, which mainly help those 
who work for the agencies. The best, kindest charity comes from one 
individual helping another. I often tell young people to try to pull 
themselves away from their very addictive screens (computer, iPads, 
television) and go out and help a live human being. Their lives will 
mean more if they do. That is why I was so impressed by Bob Hunt's 
column in the November 25 Knoxville News-Sentinel by the work started 
by Christine Maentz, and carried on now by her, her husband Scott, and 
others helping feed Knoxville's homeless. I would like to call this 
column to the attention of my colleagues and other readers.

                  Drops of Charity Better Than Drought

                             (By Bob Hunt)

       ``In the first centuries of Christianity, the hungry were 
     fed at a personal sacrifice, the naked were clothed at a 
     personal sacrifice, the homeless were sheltered at a personal 
     sacrifice. And because the poor were fed, clothed and 
     sheltered at a personal sacrifice, the pagans used to say 
     about the Christians `See how they love each other.'
       ``In our own day the poor are no longer fed, clothed and 
     sheltered at a personal sacrifice, but at the expense of the 
     taxpayers. And because the poor are no longer fed, clothed 
     and sheltered, the pagans say about the Christians `See how 
     they pass the buck.' ''--Feeding the Poor at a Sacrifice, by 
     Peter Maurin (1877-1949)

  Peter Maurin was a Catholic philosopher in the tradition of Christian 
personalism. He, along with Dorothy Day, founded the Catholic Worker 
movement, which today is represented by over 200 houses of hospitality 
that offer food, clothing and shelter to the poor. Not willing to wait 
for the government or church to organize official relief efforts, 
Maurin believed that it was the personal responsibility of Christians 
to commit themselves to serving those in need by way of personal 
sacrifice through the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Maurin 
pointed to St. Francis of Assisi as the inspiration for Christian 
personalism. Today, another Francis is inspiring many with his message 
that the Church is a field hospital for the wounded, and that 
Christians must leave the confines of the church building and, ``go 
outside and look for people where they live, where they suffer, and 
where they hope.''
  Christine Maentz saw a need last December. She was concerned that the 
poor who often gather under the bridge at Broadway and Magnolia would 
have nothing to eat on Christmas. She convinced her husband, Scott, to 
make dozens of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with her and take 
them downtown. They passed them out to the homeless under the bridge 
while a rainstorm poured down around them. Christine and Scott have 
been back every month since, now bringing bunches of friends with them 
along with items of clothing and hygiene packs, in what they call their 
Bridge Ministry. It's an example of Christian personalism. The Maentz' 
didn't ask permission from their pastor or the City Council. The money 
spent in the effort was their own. They saw the need, took personal 
responsibility and made a personal sacrifice to meet it. Will it solve 
all the problems of the homeless? No. Will it feed every hungry person 
in the city? No. But, it's a drop.
  A journalist once asked Mother Teresa, ``Mother, all that you do here 
amounts to nothing more than a drop in the bucket. Why do you bother?'' 
Mother replied, ``It's a drop.'' The question to ask, I think, isn't, 
``Why bother?'' The question to ask is, ``Where are all the other 
drops? Why isn't that bucket full yet? Where's your drop? Where's 
mine?''
  Christine and Scott Maentz, and the others who now join them, offer 
their drops. They would like to eventually expand the Bridge Ministry 
to every Saturday. But, that will require more people willing to offer 
their drops. There are other needs in the city waiting to be filled, 
waiting for others to offer their drops. The bucket is very large. But, 
each drop is one more drop toward filling that bucket. Perhaps another 
rainstorm can be started. It all begins with one person taking personal 
responsibility and making a personal sacrifice. So, what's your 
Saturday look like?

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