OPEN YOUR HEARTS
"Give and
it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together running
over, shall they pour into your lap. For with what measure you measure, it
shall be measured to you" (Lk 6:38).
I would like to
share a personal story that my sisters shared with me. I feel it fits well with
today's readings:
This was before my
time, probably about sixty-eight years ago. My parents owned a small grocery
store and their house was directly above the store. My dad worked and managed
the store, and my mom helped when she was not busy with the kids; there were
four at that time - three girls and one boy. Well, one evening while everyone
was asleep, an electrical wire shorted and started a fire in the store. When
the smoke started to rise up into the house, my dad woke up.
In those days there
were no smoke detectors. First, my dad woke up my mom and then the girls.
Everyone was in a panic and went out through the window, but they forgot my
brother, who was an infant. My dad went up the stairs and got him out quickly
and safely. That night everything my family owned had burnt to ashes - all
personal items, the house, and the business that kept food on the table and a
roof over our heads.
My family had to
start all over. Some of our friends offered us a place to stay until my dad
could work things out. My dad and mom were faithful Catholics and went to
church every Sunday. Even though my parents lost everything, my dad still
insisted that we put what we could in the collection basket at our church. One
week after the fire my dad was offered a job at Sears and Roebuck Co. as a
sewing machine repairman. The pay for his first week returned ten-fold what he
had given to God so generously!
My dad was generous
all his life, not just giving to the Church but to many other people who were
in need as well. He opened his doors when neighbors were in need of shelter,
whatever need they had, if he could help, he would. I remember, as a little
boy, many times he would buy a bag of groceries and take it to my brothers and
sisters just to make sure they were eating right, and also as an excuse to
check if everything was going well. Many of his friends came to talk to him
about their problems and he always took the time to listen. My dad would rather
give to others even if he had to do without himself.
He died in the late
1980's from a stroke. I remember at my dad's funeral, the priest's homily
described him as a man of great generosity, for he shared everything with his
family and friends.
Jesus just told us
about some other unemployed people. A landowner gave them a job at different
hours of the day: some worked a full day; others, just a few hours; still
others, only one hour. Yet at the end of the day he paid all of them the same
wage. Naturally the early workers complained, but the boss answered, "Are
you envious because I am generous" (Mt 20:15)?
The principal
lesson of this parable is that God is generous. The Kingdom of heaven is not
run like this earthly kingdom. God's ways are not our ways as the first reading
of Isaiah told us. Yes, God is generous. To begin with, God generously created
us to share in His own life and own happiness. With it, of course, the Almighty
gave us a free will, another generous gift, so that we could freely decide
whether or not we would love Him in return and receive the reward of the
Kingdom of heaven.
God has showered us
with blessings of the body and soul. He has provided plenty of food. Today's
shortages are due to mankind's greed and mismanagement. In many of Jesus'
parables and teachings He reverses our expectations of what should happen. For
example, the father forgives his prodigal son; the Samaritan saves the man
mugged on the road. He wants to reverse our expectations and ways of thinking
too, to turn the world upside down and make it more like God's Kingdom. He
wants to give us justice and peace.
In the second
reading, St. Paul exhorts us to conduct ourselves "in a way worthy of the
Gospel of Christ" (Phil 1:27). It's time to put a side our old ways of
life and take up the life Jesus has shown us. That is not easy. Our prejudices,
our sinful tendencies, our weaknesses and the world itself, make conversion
difficult. Left to ourselves, it cannot be done. We live in a culture of
abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, war and capital punishment, and this is
not what God devices for His people. Jesus brings us hope. God's ways are high
above our ways, His thoughts above our thoughts. But in Jesus, our human nature
is redeemed and lifted up. In Him, we can begin to let our ways and thoughts
become more like God's.
We can be thankful
that the Son of God was generous in person! Jesus changed water into wine,
telling the servants to fill the jars "up to the brim"; with the
miraculous catch of fish they "filled both ships"; He multiplied
bread so bountifully that the left-overs "filled" twelve baskets.
Lavishly He lauded the widow's generous mite. Generously He gave time and
strength and sympathy. And finally, when one drop would have saved us, He
poured out every drop of His Precious Blood, and continues to give His Body and
Blood in Mass, throughout the World, at every moment.
This generous
God-man told us, "Give and it shall be given to you: good measure, pressed
down, shaken together running over, shall they pour into your lap. For with
what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you" (Lk 6:38). May all
of us experience the fruits of generosity. Our challenge today is to reflect on
the message of the Gospel and to have generosity in our hearts for each other!