#prayforpaul Shows Us How To Take Care of Each Other

About a week or so ago, I was asked about what my ideal economic system would look like.  The context was around taxes and my ideas about how our money is wasted by the Federal Government and we have all these programs that are supposed to be "helping people" but don't do that at all.  I shared my opinion regarding how I felt the Government shouldn't be who we look to for helping people.  The I was asked what my ideal economic system would be.  It was a great question that took a minute or two but I quickly had an answer.  It wasn't some new innovative idea, but it was a simple concept that comes straight out of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. and Jesus Christ himself.

What Are We Called To Do?

Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.

The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention. It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the establishment of true international order.

In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, neither the state nor any larger society should substitute itself for the initiative and responsibility of individuals and intermediary bodies.

-Catechism of the Catholic Church

How awesome is that?  In a nutshell, the Church tells us that people should take care of each other.  Simple as that.  No appeals to the government at any level should be the first step.  The community is called to take care of each other, for the common good.  This is also supported in the scriptures:

“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”  He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  This is the greatest and the first commandment.  The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."
- Matthew 22:36-40

So Jesus directly and through the Church has instructed us that we should be encouraged to handles things at a basic level within our own communities and then go out farther for the needs that the community cannot handle.  The beauty of social media is that we can form new communities that are not solely based on geographic location.  So it makes it easier to love our neighbor when he/she lives hundreds of miles away.  We can also discover new neighbors in the community and tend to their needs.

How Do We Do This In Practice?

There's a large social movement going on right now as we speak around one man and his family.  Paul Coakley is a young man in his 30's that is currently battling a very aggressive cancer.  Because of the life that he's lived, he's impacted a large amount of people that he's met during his life in a large way.  These people who Paul know have come together to bring together a community of people to support Paul and his family in their time of need.  This community of people has greatly expanded and become a Facebook page with currently 5,995 likes.  I'm sure Paul doesn't know all of these people but this has occurred through intense prayer and the outpouring over social media channels about his situation.  People who have never even met Paul are discovering who he is and how much he's loved from the sharing of stories about him.

Because he and his wife have chosen a life of simplicity, there's been an outpouring of generosity to help his family with their medical expenses through donations.  There's also a large scale effort to help build his family a home in Tennessee.  From 390 people who've donated, $49,684 has been raised in under a month.  How awesome is that?  How much of a blessing will that money be to his family?  How much of a witness is that to the basic principle that we, the people, have an obligation and duty to take care of each other and have the means to do it.  Not only just through monetary donations, but the prayers keep coming in and are growing on a daily basis.  In my mind, I can picture God the Father and Jesus looking down at us with a great smile on their faces simply saying, "Good job, everyone".

Paul Coakley's Donation Site

The community that has emerged around this man and his family is so inspiring to me.  To imagine almost 6,000 people out there praying for this family as they go through this fight with cancer is a testament of our faith.  It's a great witness to those who don't believe in God, Jesus, faith, hope, charity, Christitanity, or the inherit goodness of people.  How can you see what's happening in this community and not believe that its stamped on our hearts by a higher power?

Paul Coakley gives us hope.  Paul Coakley shows us how we are called by God to love one another.  Paul Coakley gives us the blueprint of how it's supposed to be done.

Many times we look for ways to live out our faith.  Here's a simple way.  #prayforpaul.

No one is asking for the government to step in, we don't need it to.  We can take care of it ourselves and we are called to do it that way.

If you want to learn more about Paul, join the Facebook group and check out my wife's recent posts about him on her blog:

Team Paul and Anne Coakley Facebook Page

Paul Post 1

Paul Post 2

Paul Post 3

Question of the Day:

Have you prayed for Paul?

Video/Song of the Day:

Until next time........Happy Budget, Happy Life