by Deacon Michael Bickerstaff | November 10, 2024 12:05 am
You see, the greatest gift of love we can give is the gift of self. In doing so, we are imitating God, who gave himself for us. It is how God made us. So, when we trust the Lord and love him and others as he loves us, we are blessed, no matter what is going on in our life. To not love as God loves costs us a piece of who we are. When we love as God intends, we become more real.
I hope… no, I am certain that each one of you here is loved by someone. And that each one of us loves someone. To love and be loved is one of our deepest longings. We desire to be loved and to belong!
Believe me when I tell you that I can still remember all these many years ago when I was a freshman in high school that my number one concern was whether I would make new friends and fit in. Would I be accepted and would I belong?
As I became a young adult, I knew that I wanted to marry the love of my life (hadn’t met her yet) and experience the love that saw my parents share. I prayed that I would find someone to love.
God has made us for love.
God’s love is one of the great truths of our faith. You know that God loves you… personally, right? You’ve experienced that love.
God is not just loving and not just lovable, but God is love personified. At its essence, love is willing the good of the other as other – desiring and willing another’s good for that person’s sake, not our own.
Love is generous.
Do we truly understand how generous our God is to each of us? Call to mind an occasion when you have experienced God’s generous love and blessing, either directly from him or through another.
In reflecting on God’s generosity, we could start right at the beginning, right?
Everything we know and see that is true, good, and beautiful comes from God. All of creation around us – the oceans, rivers, mountains, meadows, forests, flowers, trees, stars in the sky, birds, fish, and animals – all given to us by God.
And of course, our own life – we would not even be aware of the beauty of creation if God hadn’t made us to be a part of it.
Your life is God’s gift to you as is his desire for you to spend all eternity with him sharing in his blessings and glory.
And the lives of everyone around us – family, friends, neighbors and strangers – all are God’s gifts. You would not have been created, except for God’s love and the love of your parents. You would not continue to exist, except for God’s love.
We have not always appreciated God’s generous love and have at times ignored him or rejected him. But God’s love never ends and is always generous.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.”
– John 3:16-17
Do we understand just how much God loves us? Do we truly grasp the blessings he wants to give to us?
We have such a mighty and loving God who generously wants to give us more than we can even begin to imagine. To him be all glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving!
And here’s the secret, so to speak, of a life filled with joy and meaning. God has made you and me to live and love as he does. We will find true joy, peace, and fulfillment in loving with a generous heart the same way God loves us.
In our first reading and the gospel today, we see the example of two people’s generosity, both widows. Their example is all the more powerful when we realize that to be a widow when they lived was to be without resource and income. Women had no ordinary means of self-support then. They depended on the generosity of others to even live.
The widow in our first reading shared the absolute last of her and her son’s food and water with Elijah. And God blessed her!
In Mark’s gospel, we see a contrast between another widow and certain scribes and rich people of Jesus’ time. While the rich people gave out of their abundance, the widow gave her all.
That’s what love does. It gives unconditionally and sacrificially.
If you take time to reflect, I am sure you can recall times when someone has loved you generously and unconditionally. And think of those occasions when you have loved others with a generous heart.
Some years ago, my wife and I were running late for a family gathering at my son’s house. We needed to stop to pick up a few items from the grocery store. So, we rushed in, each going to different departments, trying to get out as fast as possible. When Cathy didn’t come to the checkout, I went looking for her. And I found her talking to a person who needed a sympathetic ear. This person’s need was real and urgent. Cathy made the time to listen and encourage.
One of our deacons here at St. Peter Chanel, Deacon John Wojcik, has a wonderful gift to be able to recognize when someone is in need. I can’t tell you how many times he and I have been walking down the street or through a park and he just intuitively knows when someone is hurting. He will approach a stranger and ask how he can help them.
It’s uncanny. It is also why people like my wife and my friend John are always so joyful, even when life is difficult.
You see, the greatest gift of love we can give is the gift of self. In doing so, we are imitating God, who gave himself for us. It is how God made us. So, when we trust the Lord and love him and others as he loves us, we are blessed, no matter what is going on in our life. To not love as God loves costs us a piece of who we are. When we love as God intends, we become more real.
This is so countercultural. Many today think of self before others. This is why so many people find such little joy.
I received some life changing advice from a priest when I was leaving for college. He said that dragons hoard their gold and treasure and find nothing but misery and despair. He told me, “Don’t be a dragon, Mike. Be a child of God. Give the best of yourself freely to others and you will find all that God desires for you.”
We are in the month of gratitude. Be grateful and thankful for all of God’s blessings. In these weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, ask God to show you how to be generous with your time and gifts. Look each day for a way to give of yourself to others. Even if it begins as only a commitment to smile at every person you see. There’s no telling what God has in store for you and whose life you will improve.
Pray with me…
Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to look for any reward, save that of knowing that I do your holy will. Amen!
– Prayer for Generosity, attributed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola
The readings at Mass for the Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time (Year B) are First Kings 17:10-16 | Psalms 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 | Hebrews 9:24-28 | Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44[1].[2]
Image credit: “Widow’s Mite” | João Zeferino da Costa[3], Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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