Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 19, 2013 - Wednesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 9:6-11 and Matt 6:1-6, 16-18]"Consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
Fundraising directors could find a patron saint in St. Paul! I recommend that they [and all of us] read chapters 8 and 9 of Second Corinthians! The occasion for his fundraising appeal was a famine that impacted Jerusalem and he was raising funds to buy food for them. His appeal is one of the best I've ever seen in regard to matching faith and generosity! "God loves a cheerful giver!" He also invokes a bit of competition by telling them about the Macedonians and others who have already given and who were less prosperous!
St. Paul appeals to generosity and faith, but in today's gospel passage, Jesus warns about the way in which generosity is expressed. He was calling attention to the mixed motives of the alms givers who gave as much for gaining attention as they did for helping others. This is a real challenge because I often preach at churches and convents where almost every stick of furniture or wall has somebody's name on it! It's one way to ask others to give but it could also be a way of asking the observer to pray for that particular donor! This is one of those areas where "refining our motives" is a challenge. Our Southern Province's annual 1216 Campaign, to which many of you generously contribute, is a reminder to me to do that praying! Jesus and Paul, today, enable us to think and pray about it! AMEN