Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lk 21: 1-4
He looked up and saw rich people putting their gifts into the treasury; he also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Giving From Abundance
God’s unconditional love for us deserves a generous response. Today’s Gospel reminds us that generosity is giving out of desire, not out of abundance. It is a desire to give to or support something that benefits others, something from which we have little to gain. True generosity requires sacrifice. We are often willing to give, but not always willing to sacrifice.
Think of the generous people in your own life who make sacrifices from which you benefit – the teachers who sacrifice their plan period to sub for a colleague or to be available to students who need extra help; the parents who make financial sacrifices so their children can attend private schools; the teenager who makes social sacrifices, foregoing a party or a game, to spend time with their friend who is struggling. All of these sacrifices are made out of love for the other. What can you sacrifice today so as to more generously respond to the needs of someone else?
—Jackie Schulte is the Dean of Faculty Formation at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to labor and not to seek to rest,
to give of myself and not ask for a reward,
except the reward of knowing that I am doing your will.
Amen
—Prayer for Generosity of St. Ignatius of Loyola