THE GIFT OF GIVING

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. – 2 Corinthians 8:3

The verse above reminds me of the Magalona Family. They are one of the happiest families I know. They serve with me in the afternoon session of The Feast Bellevue, the spiritual community I lead. They are faithful givers. Regardless of how they are faring in their faith or finances, they continue to give cheerfully because they are committed to putting God first in all aspects of their lives. Through their generosity, I have seen how they have been blessed immensely—and financially would probably be the least way. I have witnessed this family grow in loving relationships, character, and service—things I believe are far more valuable and bring more fulfillment than monetary wealth.

Friends, the most important reward of giving is when we become givers. God designed us to be givers, and as such, we experience true and lasting joy. I read this quote from a book on biblical finance: “The purpose of tithing is to secure not the tithe, but the tither, not the gift but the giver, not the possession but the possessor, not your money but you for God.”

You’re never more like Jesus than when you give. Mike Viñas (mikemichaelfcv@yahoo.com)

Reflect: “In the midst of a severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” (2 Corinthians 8:2)

Jesus, with You in my life, I am truly wealthy. For with You, I don’t just have the supply; I have the Source. Thank You! Mold me to give like You. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Venerable Matt Talbot, pray for us.

God enriches us in our poverty. When we have nothing, we realize that we owe Him everything. In our poverty, we do not have the distraction of wealth to obscure the truth. However, the truth is the same for the rich though it is more difficult to grasp. Let us never allow our own talents and blessings to obscure the truth—that all the good that we have is a gift from the Lord.

2 Corinthians 8:1-9

1 We want you to know, brothers and sisters, of the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, 2 for in a severe test of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their profound poverty overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 3 For according to their means, I can testify, and beyond their means, spontaneously, 4 they begged us insistently for the favor of taking part in the service to the holy ones, 5 and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and to us through the will of God, 6 so that we urged Titus that, as he had already begun, he should also complete for you this gracious act also. 7 Now as you excel in every respect, in faith, discourse, knowledge, all earnestness, and in the love we have for you, may you excel in this gracious act also. 8 I say this not by way of command, but to test the genuineness of your love by your concern for others. 9 For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that for your sake he became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich.

PSALM

Psalm 146:2, 5-6, 6-7, 8-9

R: Praise the Lord, my soul!

2 Praise the Lord, my soul! I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live. (R) 5 Blessed he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord, his God, 6 Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. (R) Who keeps faith forever, 7 secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets captives free. (R) 8 The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord raises up those that were bowed down; the Lord loves the just. 9 The Lord protects strangers. (R)

GOSPEL

God calls us to perfection, but He knows it will take a long journey to achieve it. All that He asks us is to try to be more like Jesus every day. He is willing to walk the road with us. Let us pray for the grace to walk with Him each day.

GOSPEL ACCLAMATION

I give you a new commandment: love one another as I have loved you.

Matthew 5:43-48

43 Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your heavenly Father, for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good, and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have? Do not the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that? Do not the pagans do the same? 48 So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

think: “Love is the only thing that can turn an enemy into a friend.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

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LOVE YOUR ENEMY

It sounds like a fairy tale when we read that in the early days of Christianity, non-Christians would point at Christ’s followers and say, “Look, how they love each other!”

Non-Christians todays might be amazed seeing us quarreling, fighting, talking ill about each other, and destroying each other’s reputation. If we Christians cannot even love one another in an exemplary way, how can we love our enemy? For Jesus does not just ask us to love. Even those who do not know Christ love their relatives and friends. It is a love flowing naturally from their heart. There is nothing special about that kind of love. Jesus wants us to go beyond what emotions and feelings make us do easily. He asks from us a special kind of love. We cannot love an enemy naturally. It has to come from a deep faith in God who is love and whose love we have experienced in Christ. This kind of love does not tolerate evil. It sees evil as it is, abhors it, and tries to stop it from spreading further. To love an enemy means that we try to see what is good in him, that we resist all urges for revenge or anger.

It may take some time even for a good Christian to be able to do this. Jesus gives us a hint that can help us. He tells us to pray for our enemy. If it is genuine prayer, it will heal us first from anger, hatred, and thoughts of revenge. In prayer we ask God for guidance and the strength to go beyond human feelings and emotional reactions. In the presence of God who is perfect, who is love, we see ourselves as we are: in our weakness, misery, and sins. We see how God has not ceased to love us in spite of all this. This thought prepares us to do to our enemy what God has done for us: forgive and heal.

That is what Jesus means when He stresses that we must be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect. Our attitude, our goodness, is not determined by what our enemy does, but by what God does. This makes us Christians different from others. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

------- REFLECTION QUESTIONS -------

Do you pray for your enemies? Do you try to love them?

Lord, You prayed on the cross for Your enemies. It is so difficult but this is no excuse for not doing it. Lord, make me more aware of what You have done for me in spite of my sins, that I may learn to do the same to those who sin against me. Amen.

Today, I pray for: __________________________