We are to be generous with Christ and with people. Let us give the whole heart truthfully. God is pure goodness and God is absolutely generous to all human beings. This will make us happy in this life. St. Paul tells us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving (Acts 20:35).
There is a saying that says: “He who seeks God and sells everything he has, except the last penny, is a fool: for God is bought with the last penny.
There are people who collaborate with God but do not commit themselves. The difference is in the following example: In a plate of eggs with bacon the hen ‘collaborates’, while the pig ‘commits’.
Either you truly commit yourself to Christ – to say yes to Christ: you know that I love you – or you go through life more or less getting on.
When the holy priest of Ars was going from one place to another, at the disposal of the parishioners, and someone asked him for forgiveness for bothering him so much, he used to respond: That’s nothing, I haven’t given the blood for you yet. When we truly surrender, when we no longer keep anything to ourselves, then we will say: ‘God alone is enough’. We often say, ‘I can’t do any more,’ but sincerely it is very likely that we can be a little more generous and less ambitious.
When I help someone else, I help myself. If we can help someone grow economically or spiritually, we will grow. The only worthwhile ambition is to love God with all our mind, with all my will, and with all our heart.
Generosity is related to faith and hope. This is the great lesson of Christ in Luke’s Gospel: we not only have to be honest, but also extremely astute. This is what the owner of the estate praised, not the dishonest way of managing his master’s estate.
The first thing we must do is to convince ourselves that we can be generous – with Christ we can do everything – and improve our lives by following the path that is Christ himself.
