11th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, June 21
2 Cor 9:6-11 / Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
God loves a cheerful giver; As you sow, you reap.
Years ago, Judd Gray was convicted of murder. An insignificant incident played an important role in his conviction. On the night of the crime, near the crime site, Gray had flagged down a taxi. The crucial question was whether the driver could make a positive identification. It turned out that he could. After the driver took Gray to the right address, Gray paid the driver. He then gave him a five-cent tip. The cabbie was absolutely livid, saying, "I took a good look at his face. I'll never forget him. There he sits, right there." He pointed to Gray.
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How generous are we in sharing with others the blessings we have received? "I'd rather be a beggar and spend my last dollar like a king than be a king and spend my money like a beggar." Robert G. Ingersoll
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Feast day June 21
Do your parents have plans for you? As soon as Aloysius was born, his parents began planning for his future. His mother wanted him to be a priest. His father was determined to have his oldest son become a military leader or famous political figure—anything but a priest.
At the age of five, Aloysius was sent to a military camp to get started on his career. His father must have been very pleased to see his son marching at the head of the platoon of soldiers around the campgrounds. His mother and his tutor were extremely displeased, however, when Aloysius came home using the rough, coarse language of the camp. At the age of seven, Aloysius received a special insight from God. While other boys were dreaming about being military heroes or heads of wealthy estates, Aloysius thought of other matters. He decided to become a saint, and he began acting on that decision. He prayed for long hours at night and fasted several times a week.
While he was on a visit to Spain with his parents, Aloysius read the lives of saintly Jesuit missionaries, and he decided to become a Jesuit. His father and some other relatives tried hard to change his mind. It was a fierce battle of wills, but after several years, Aloysius won. With his father’s permission, Aloysius gave his large inheritance to his brother and joined the Jesuit order at 17 years of age. The novice director, who was in charge of training Aloysius, told him to cut down on his long hours of prayer and to give up some of his fasting and other penances. Aloysius obeyed willingly. He understood that obedience was better than “doing his own thing.”
When Aloysius was 23, a serious epidemic broke out in Rome. Aloysius volunteered at once to help in the hospital. At that time hospitals were not the clean, orderly places with which we are familiar today. It was very easy to catch an illness. That is what happened; Aloysius became very ill. No medicine could help him. Aloysius was not afraid to die.
Aloysius shows that young people are not too young to become saints. During his life he had focused on doing what God wanted—serving and loving God and his neighbor.
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Both Jesus and Paul speak to us today on sincere and generous sharing. To Paul, the generous, spontaneous givers are ministers of God’s goodness; by giving thanks to God for what they themselves have received they are further enriching themselves by sharing. Giving – also praying and doing penance – must be done for the sake of God, says Jesus, not to congratulate oneself or to be admired by others. It would be good for us, for our Catholic organizations and institutions of the Church to remember that we have no monopoly on charity, that God is present in every act of love and sharing, also when not bearing the Catholic label. True love is discreet, like God’s.
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The effective part of every appeal for charity is the motives - they move to give. He must explain how the appeal concerns them: the first thing Paul says in this reading: "thin sowing means thin reaping” (verse 6). Charity is like sowing. It grows and yields a rich return. No investment has a higher rate of interest than charity: Be generous, and God will be generous to you. We can never surpass God in generosity. "God loves a cheerful giver" (verse 7). A strong motive is always the example of others. Here is a beautiful quality of Paul. He speaks to other Churches of the good qualities he has seen, but never of the faults. The Macedonians have contributed much, though they were poor. This is always the case. It is the poor people who give the most alms for the missions. Another powerful example is that of Jesus. He did not hesitate to leave all his glory behind, to be born and to die for mankind. He became poor for us so that we may be rich.
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"If you are not better than the Scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven," Jesus had said. The last six days we read about the Scribes. Jesus had taken the principles of the law and perfected them. He taught the spirit, goal and purpose of each and filled it with his spirit. The next three days Jesus speaks of the Pharisees. He deals with the three fundamental expressions of religious, spiritual life: prayer, mortification and love and leads those to perfection. First, he speaks of charity: giving alms. The first thing he says about it is: "Do not have it trumpeted before you. That is the danger in doing good deeds. It attracts attention. And many like to gain admiration. They get what they want. They have had their reward. There is only one who should see what good we do: God Even we should not keep an account of it. "Let your left hand not how what your right hand is doing.
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Opening Prayer
Lord our God, you let your Holy Spirit fill us spontaneously with every good gift. You want us to be to everyone ministers of your generosity. Help us to express our gratitude to you and to reveal your goodness by sharing what we are and have with joy and in all sincerity, as Jesus did, your Son, who lives with you forever. Amen
