Word to the Wise
Monday, March 21, 2011 - 2nd Week of Lent - Mon
[Dan 9:4b-10 and Luke 6:36-38]Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.
One of the constants in Dominican community prayer is the remembrance of our "friends and benefactors" whose generosity supports our ministry and way of life. Many of you get a card from me each year on behalf of our Southern Dominican Province "1216 Campaign!" The provincial office notifies me of each contribution so that I may respond personally. I am genuinely humbled and grateful for the generosity that is shown to us (and, by extension, to me)! But I am also aware of forms of generosity that are not monetary and yet have a tremendous impact. One of the principal forms of this kind of generosity is the gift of time and talent. I spent many years in campus ministry, and it was the time and talent of students that made so much of the programming possible because most of what we received in the collection had to go to pay salaries, utilities, etc.. Still another form is emotional generosity - the gift of friendship. I know personally how sustaining that gift can be.
The words quoted above from today's gospel scripture speak to an audience that wouldn't have a lot of cash but were subsistence farmers who knew what a bushel of grain might look like and how it could be "shaken down" to add more. Later on in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus will take note of the generosity of a poor widow who puts her last coins in a collection container at the temple. I'm sure we can all call to mind the examples of generosity we have encountered. Lent offers us a particular opportunity to examine our own patterns of generosity. How do we give? Are we aware of the gifts we receive and show gratitude? One of my principal forms of gratitude is to pray daily for friends and benefactors. My rosary is well worn from that! I am motivated in part by Jesus' words about the "measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you." I can testify to the power of that teaching, but I know I can always do more. AMEN
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