Word to the Wise
Monday, March 2, 2015 - 2nd Week of Lent - Mon
[Dan 9:4b-10 and Luke 6:36-38]Be merciful , just as your Father is merciful. Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. 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 turn be measured out to you. [Luke]
I love the image of generosity that Jesus uses in this passage. It speaks of an overflowing bounty, but includes packing and shaking down and pouring into one's lap! When I was a student brother [seminarian], my uncle would send a 100lb sack of unshelled pecans to the priory each year. One day it arrived and my gleeful brethren brought it into the barber shop where I was sitting and laid it in my lap! I think of that incident each time I read Jesus' image of generosity.
This generosity extends not merely to matieral goods, but to the very important intangibles like mercy and forgiveness. Can we be as generous with those as we are with food or hospitality? Can we generously refrain from judging? A very wise third grader once said to me: "I should not have said what I said about her. I don't know what's going on in her life." I have never forgotten that statement!
Lent offers us the opportunity to "work on" mercy and generosity and forgiveness. If we can develop those habits, we'll do a lot more for ourselves than losing a pound or two from "giving up" chocolate or booze! AMEN