Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
June 20, 2007

Today's Saint: Alban
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/Alban.htm

Today's Readings:
2 Cor 9:6-11
Ps 112:1b-4, 9
Matt 6:1-6, 16-18
http://www.usccb.org/nab/062007.shtml

Reaping richly
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In today's first reading, we're given a very important spiritual principle: What
you sow is what you reap. Those who repeatedly sin against us, sowing pain (the
key word being "repeatedly"), need to reap pain if they're ever going
to realize that they should stop. I know that sounds harsh, but if we truly
love them, we do not enable their sins. We do not make it easy for them to
continue in their sins.

Likewise, by sowing our lives with good seeds, we'll reap God's abundance so
that we have an abundance to share with others as we do more good works. We
cannot out-do God in generosity. So, why are we so afraid to give more?

Ralph and I lived through many years of barely affording life's minimal
expenses. When we heard teachings in church about sacrificial giving and
tithing (donating 10% of your income), we were sure we could not afford to give
more than a dollar or two a week. That was 30 years ago, and despite inflation,
this is still what many people donate!

Then someone told us: "If you really want to know whom or what you love and
serve, look at your checkbook."

There's a big difference between serving our finances and making our finances
serve the Lord. We decided to ignore the fear of being generous and start
trusting God. Soon after, this was put to the test. As we prepared to move to
another state for Ralph's new job, we wanted to sell one of our cars. It was
worth $200 (a huge amount at that time), but we gave it to a man who needed a
car for getting a job. And then our house sold for $2000 more than expected!

Tithing isn't an investment plan, which we contribute to the for sake of getting
back more than we put in. God wants us to realize that he's in charge of our
finances. He wants us to know that he's the provider, the source of everything
we need. Everything we have -- our time, our talents, and our ability to earn
money -- are gifts that God has given us so that we may have all that we need
AND a surplus for good works, to share the wealth. We're all rich in various
ways, gifted by God. Whether you have money or not, you have much to give, much
to sow.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells us that serving God is done for love of
God, not personal gain. Generosity is to be done with humility, not for our own
glory, and not with expectations of reward. God is not into get-rich-quick
schemes. God's into love! And perfect love is abundantly generous.

When we sow generously in order to reap abundantly, we're being self-centered.
But when we sow generously because we love others, we reap from God's
generosity. Love is the answer to overcoming the fear of being generous. Love
is what frees us to be cheerful givers.



© 2007 by Terry A. Modica
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