22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Generosity We all love a generous person. Such a one is not so much loved because of the gifts they give but because of the spirit in which they give - with a free heart and hand. The nature of their generosity is captured well by Kahil Gibran: And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; Spring is now upon us with wattles, paperbarks, grevilleas are all coming into glorious bloom. As we drove home yesterday from Rocky we marvelled at the beauty breaking out. The trees did not ask us if we deserved this, or what had we done for them, they simply gifted us with joy. We have known and do know people who give like that – they are usually elders. They have learnt the wisdom of life: all we have and are is a gift from God. They have often learnt true values through suffering or poverty: that compassion, time and attentiveness are the richest gifts. They do not realise what good they do. They live in wonder at the love that surrounds them. When Jesus tells us to welcome the weak of our society, he is inviting us to live and love generously. For most of us this is a discipline of mind and heart that takes years to learn. We need to look positively towards people, to have hope when people seem hopeless and, most of all, to be grounded in the knowledge of God’s generosity to us. We then become channels of the greatest gift: the love of God. Let us live that we may be loved as generous people, true sons and daughters of God. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.
The full poem on Giving by Kahil Gibran can be found at http://www.katsandogz.com/ongiving.htm . Be inspired!
Sr Kym Harris OSB |