The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to generosity as a path to our deeper relationship with God.
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| Fruit of generosity |
In the passage from 2 Corinthians, Paul challenges us to godlike generosity.
* [9:8–10] The behavior to which he exhorts them is grounded in God’s own pattern of behavior. God is capable of overwhelming generosity, as scripture itself attests (2 Cor 9:9), so that they need not fear being short. He will provide in abundance, both supplying their natural needs and increasing their righteousness. Paul challenges them to godlike generosity and reminds them of the fundamental motive for encouragement: God himself cannot be outdone.1
Psalm 112 details the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments.
* [Psalm 112] An acrostic poem detailing the blessings received by those who remain close to God by obedience to the commandments. Among their blessings are children (Ps 112:2), wealth that enables them to be magnanimous (Ps 112:3, 5, 9), and virtue by which they encourage others (Ps 112:4). The just person is an affront to the wicked, whose hopes remain unfulfilled (Ps 112:10). The logic resembles Ps 1; 1112.
The text from the Gospel of John expands on the coming of Jesus’ hour through the image of the death of seed.
* [12:24] This verse implies that through his death Jesus will be accessible to all. It remains just a grain of wheat: this saying is found in the synoptic triple and double traditions (Mk 8:35; Mt 16:25; Lk 9:24; Mt 10:39; Lk 17:33). John adds the phrases (Jn 12:25) in this world and for eternal life.3
Kyle Lierk observes that when the ego is in charge, death or surrender or even abounding generosity feel threatening. The ego much prefers fear, anxiety and control.
Our consumerist, capitalist culture has certainly made heaps of profit on this! The message goes something like, “Wear/buy/eat/drive this (fill in the blank) and you will be happier!” Jesus is completely flipping this on its head when he tells us that abundance comes not from control or consumption, but from letting go and allowing ourselves to be consumed (by God’s love).4
Don Schwager quotes “The seed must die before being resurrected,” by Irenaeus, 135-202 A.D.
"A cutting from the vine planted in the ground bears fruit in its season, or a kernel of wheat falling into the earth and becoming decomposed rises and is multiplied by the Spirit of God, who contains all things. And then, through the wisdom of God, it serves for our use when, after receiving the Word of God, it becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ. In the same way our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time. The Word of God grants them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption (1 Corinthians 15:53). This is so because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness (1 Corinthians 15:43; 2 Corinthians 13:4) in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, or become exalted against God with ungrateful minds." (excerpt from AGAINST HERESIES 5.2.3)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on 2 Corinthians 9:6-10 connects to how St. Lawrence’s example of choosing humor and joy, even during hardship, helps people see the light of Christ in us. Pope Francis in his apostolic exhortation Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness, called joy and a sense of humor one of the signs of holiness especially needed today.
Christian joy stands in marked contrast to the world’s tendency to seek happiness in material things. Such things might offer “occasional and passing pleasures, but not joy,” he wrote. Christian joy also combats the tendency toward individualism. Joy lived in communion, Francis said, “shares and is shared.” It “increases our capacity for joy, since it makes us capable of rejoicing in the good of others” (128).6
Friar Jude Winkler shares the martyrdom story of St Lawrence. The psalms tell of weeping at the death of the seed and rejoicing at the harvest of food. Friar Jude reminds that fullness of life involves dying to self.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, invites us to spend several minutes with one we love looking into their eyes.
Without speaking, simply mirror to each other love and respect through your gaze. During the silence, allow the source of love within you to well up and flow from you. Receive the love flowing from the one gazing at you. It is all one love. Witness the Divine Presence in both yourself and the other.7
The generosity that is accompanied by a dismissal of our ego radiates sincere love in which the need of the other is at a higher priority than our self satisfaction.
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