Giving must be Sacrificial (Monday, Week 34, Year 2)

-

To give out of the abundance of wealth may mean nothing. But to give out of the abundance of the heart makes a whole lot of difference. That is when giving becomes a sacrifice. And that is when it costs and hurts. When God requested that an altar should be built for him, David refused to take a piece of land from Araunah the Jebusite without paying because “he can’t offer to God what costs him nothing” (2 Sam. 24:24). When I have two coats and offer one to someone who has none against the harsh grip of the harmattan wind, I have given something but that may mean nothing to me. But when I have one coat and freely and willingly give it out to someone who has not, I have given something with a difference; I have sacrificed because my giving out my coat will attract the pains of the cold weather. That’s when giving becomes a sacrifice! How can we ever think of the Christian life empty of sacrifice? How can we conceive of going to heaven without doing some sacrifice? Whatever that costs us nothing is not a sacrifice. God places more value on an offering that costs. We have offered up the pleasures of sin for the sake of God. It is a sacrifice because it has cost us something. We have offered up power and fame for the sake of God. It is a sacrifice because it has cost us something.

In the gospel (cf. Luke 21:1-4), the poor widow’s offering was of greater value to God than all who were giving millions upon millions because she gave all joyfully from her heart; and having offered everything she had, it must have cost her a lot. In the first reading (cf. Rev. 14:1-3.4b-5), the 144,000 people representing the uncountable number of people who have been redeemed were joyfully singing a new song in the courts of heaven; and they were described as those who have followed the lamb wherever he went; even when he went to be slain, they followed Him, suffering the same fate that the lamb suffered. They washed their cloth in the blood of the Lamb. They sacrificed their lives; gave up their lives in sacrifice to God. In sum, it cost them their lives to have followed the Lamb. 

Our lives on earth cannot help us merit heaven if we don’t give up something or things for the sake of God. It is not only money. We can give other things that must cost us something. I am rushing to work. But I have a grandmother in the house that I must give food before I leave. Sometimes, I have to sacrifice my time, my convenience, my sleep, I have to get up on time, prepare her food and set off for work. All of these must be done joyfully, even though it costs. That is sacrifice! I enjoy talking and playing music. But there is someone in the house, maybe a sick person, who does not want noise. I have to give up the pleasure of talking or listening to music for the sake of that person. These are those “little-little” things that may mean a whole lot when placed on the scale of Christian morality and conscience. May God help us with his grace that we may always be intent on sacrifice in order to join the company of those who washed their cloth in the blood of the Lamb who was slain, Amen!   


  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gifts versus the Giver (Monday, Week 20, Year II)

-
Image
A gift, by the virtue of what it is, is given. In other words, there must be a giver. Gift can come or be in the form of a good friendship or relationship, material thing, good job, personal talent, and so on. Every cherished gift is the delight of our eyes, the pride of our power and the desire of our souls. The gifts that we possess should then remind us of the giver. It smacks of arrogance and ingratitude when gifts are used without acknowledging or making reference to the giver. For the Jews, the Temple or Sanctuary was the delight of their eyes, the pride of their power and the desire of their souls. It was a precious gift which they jealously guarded. However, they adorned the Sanctuary but did not truly adore the One for whom the Sanctuary exists. They were too attached to the “gift” (sanctuary) but were completely detached from the Giver of the gift – from Yahweh. Ezekiel prophesied to them that this sanctuary which was their delight will be profaned and taken away from them. M
Read more

Persecution and Triumph, the Two Realities of Christian life (Saturday, Week 33, Year 2, The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

-
Image
The book of Revelation is full of symbols and imageries that need to be carefully interpreted for us to understand the message they communicate. In today’s first reading (cf. Rev. 11:4-12), John was told about two olive trees and two lamp stands serving as witnesses to the Holy One. Who or what do these two sets of witnesses (olive trees and lamp stand) stand for? When we read further in order to understand what happened to these two witnesses, it may be a bit clear to us that the “two witnesses” may be pointing to Moses and Elijah, judging from what they did on earth and what they stand for. Moses stands for the Law; and Elijah stands for the Prophet. Anyone who bears witness as Moses bore witness to the Law of God must be persecuted by the beast as the first reading (from the Book of Revelation) recounted. Anyone who bears witness to the messages of truth as Elijah and other prophets did must be persecuted just as the prophets were persecuted. Persecution is a fate that awaits every
Read more

Enkindle the Embers of Unity, Quench the Fire of Disunity (Wednesday, Week 22, Year A)

-
Image
For some time now, we have heard Paul talk about the spiritual and the unspiritual: what it means to live and operate on the level of the Spirit (the spiritual) and on the level of the flesh (the unspiritual). Paul was very emphatic about this topic possibly because he was addressing a group of people who were too intellectual and academic in their approach to the things of God and all of that. Remember that the Corinthians were Greek; and the ancient Greeks were known to be too particular and more interested in intellectualism, sophistry, philosophy and human wisdom. And we must not forget that Paul has been very suspicious of over-reliance on worldly/human wisdom in understanding and appreciating the things of the Spirit. To rely more on human/worldly wisdom is a sign that one may be operating on the level of the flesh; and to operate on the level of the flesh breeds a whole lot of vices such as division or sectionalism, hedonism, and so on. In today’s section of that letter to the C
Read more