Ministries, Charisms, Fruits – 18 Kindness
Aristotle describes kindness as helpfulness towards someone in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Of course, we have to be careful with such a definition. Just because we help someone without regard for any personal advantage, it doesn’t mean we have to be miserable as we help. It is more virtuous to delight in being helpful rather than finding it a burden, but it is essential that kindness springs from a love of others.
Careful consideration also has to be given to what it means to be helpful. Aquinas talks of kindness as something that helps to cure evils. In any kind of evil situation, there is something that is lacking, and so some form of help is needed to restore what is missing. In situations such as rivalry, hatred, jealousy and discord, our response should be kindness, an act of helping those in need. But the kind of help we provide is informed by our Christian faith. Christ died on the cross for our sins and He is conqueror over all evil. Therefore whenever we are confronted with evil, we need to bring Christ into the situation.
