Jesus said: "Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."    

James Bond is one of fiction's "good guys" and we can always count on him to fight anything that smacks of evil which is harmful to others. In the movie "Quantum of Solace," evil comes in the form of a group of people whose organization is entitled "Quantum." What is interesting in the movie is how both the American and British intelligence are willing to allow the evil that "Quantum" is perpetrating so that they will be able to enjoy some benefit from the evil, namely the possibility of oil. As it turns out, both are mistaken in what they thought, but the fact that they were willing to consider the possibility is what is called "the end justifying the means." It is always wrong: we cannot deliberately cause evil on another person just to get what we want. It is true on an international level and it is true on a personal level as well.      

To determine whether some act is good or not, we must talk of "object" and "intention" and "circumstances" of what we are doing. The important part of any action is the "intention" of the acting subject--what does he/she intend by doing the action?  Intending something good is the goal of the Christian approach. But just because one has a good intention, it does not permit some evil action. In the movie, even though it is good to have oil for a country, it does not allow such a country to use evil means to get it.

Jesus knew the minds of people. Therefore he knew what their intentions were as they performed their different religious acts. Some liked to be noticed by others; some liked the praise of the people they served; some liked the approving looks they received when they gave of what they had. Their intentions were not good. Even though it looked as though it were a good action, namely the help of people, it failed the test of being good. Their intention was not to reach out to another in need. It was nothing but selfish pride.

In the movie "Quantum of Solace," the governments of Britain and America were willing to allow evil to bring about a good. The religious leaders of Jesus' time worked for a good but they did it with evil intentions. In order to bring about good with good means, we must study our situations carefully. We are responsible for making our personal actions good or not. In our day-to-day activities, we can never work at bringing about something good and at the same time bring about harm. Our intentions and our activities must both be good. As Jesus reminds us, only then will we receive the praise of God.               

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son taught us to work for good and to work with good intentions as we do it. Give us the grace to have pure intentions in everything we do, and allow us to do our parts to bring about good in our world. Be with us, we pray. 

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America