Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 18, 2025 - Wednesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 9:6-11 and Matt 6:1-6, 16-18]Brothers and sisters, consider this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that is all things always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. [2 Corinthians]
This passage from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians refers to his efforts to raise money for the church in Macedonia. But it no doubt reflects the situation of so many efforts in our own day to preach the gospel. These efforts require financial resources as well as direct physical presence. Almost any religious organization nowadays has to have a "director of development" to organize the effort to find sufficient funds to support the workers or those whom the workers are helping. Praying for vocations is a noble and important thing to do, but those who are in formation to become priests or religious are not usually in a position to have a full, or even part-time, job to help pay for their formation! In our own Dominican province in the South of the USA, we are blessed with a record number of men in formation. But we are also challenged to find the resources to pay for that formation! That's why my beloved congregation hears about this from me every year around February.
The needs of the church in Macedonia might include simple but crucial things like food, clothing and shelter in a situation where active persecution could be a daily reality. The situation in Gaza in the Middle East provides a modern example right now. The line "God loves a cheerful giver!" is almost a mantra for fund-raisers. Choosing which effort or organization to support does require discernment but that is part of the effort. Whether it be direct physical effort [e.g. medical mission or Habitat for Humanity] or a donation to support the education of future workers, the challenge to share our resources to enable the preaching of the gospel remains. St. Paul challenges the church in Corinth and the church of today in the same way. AMEN