“GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER (2 Cor 9:7)
⏰THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)
📕1 Kgs 17:10-16; Ps 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (R.v.1b); Heb 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
We are gradually coming to the end of the Churchs Liturgical Year and the end of the secular calendar year. What are you going to use for a thanksgiving to God for seeing you through to these ends and for enriching you with his blessings?
The liturgy of today tells us that whatever we shall give must be something that comes within our hearts and not what we shall give for a show or what we are compelled to give by external influences. The Second Reading tells us of the huge sacrifice which Jesus has already made for us. As our High Priest, he gave himself entirely, and once for all, such that no other sacrifice is again needed. Hence, whatever we give is in appreciation of that sacrifice he already made for us. That is also what St. John means when he said that we are able to love because he loved us first (cf. 1 John 4:19).
We must equally understand that whatever we render to God in this act of appreciation goes a long way to attract more blessings from him, for ourselves and for others. The story of the widow of Zarephath and the prophet Elijah tells us that much. She trusted God so much and so was able to give out all that SHE HAD TO LIVE ON to the prophet of God, just like the widow that Jesus praised in the Gospel. The act of giving all that they had to live on means that they gave their lives without reservation to God.
That is equally what we are called to do as the year draws to a close. Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that we cannot be said to have given until it pains us that we are giving. I CANNOT GIVE GOD A GIFT THAT COSTS ME NOTHING.
Therefore, I have decided that I am going to give God a gift of myself in purity of heart. What of you?
May God give us the grace to give him a pure gift of ourselves without reservation. And as we do so, may his blessings continue to run unceasingly in our lives through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Have a blessed Sunday. Peace be with you.
