Author: admin

***

2 Corinthians 9: 6-11:

Brothers and sisters, consider this:
whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly,
and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion,
for God loves a cheerful giver.
Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you,
so that in all things, always having all you need,
you may have an abundance for every good work.
As it is written:

    He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor;
        his righteousness endures forever.

The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food
will supply and multiply your seed
and increase the harvest of your righteousness.

You are being enriched in every way for all generosity,
which through us produces thanksgiving to God.

The Word of the Lord.

***

***

“God loves a cheerful giver,” Saint Paul tells us in our first reading.

***

But what, exactly, is a cheerful giver? Can one gift more pleasing than another?

***

The medieval Jewish philosopher, Maimonides, defined eight different levels of giving. The least fruitful form is giving grudgingly, out of a sense of obligation.

I’m sure we’ve all been there before. 

For example, we’re stopped at a red light. Suddenly, a person walks up to our window holding a paper cup. While we may be tempted to look away, we roll down our window, try to smile and offer a dollar. 

Obligation: the lowest form of giving.

***

The more we give from our heart, the more pleasing the gift becomes.

For example, the next highest form of giving, Maimonides says, is giving less than we should, but doing so cheerfully. 

Better than that is giving a gift anonymously.

But the highest form of giving is giving enough to make sure a person’s dignity is never compromised; meaning, their lights don’t go out, they don’t taste the twinge of hunger, they have employment, and so on.

***

Essentially, this is his point: see in another person the same dignity you see in yourself. Then we can give without expecting anything in return.

***

What can I give to another person today, whether it’s my heart, my time, or my treasure? 

***

Whatever it may be, do it joyfully.

Because, “God loves a cheerful giver.”

***

***

Image credits: (1) Truth For Life Blog (2) Mirriam-Webster (3) VirtueOnline

***

Gospel: Matthew 5:38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
    An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

I’m sure we’ve all heard the phrase, “Go the extra mile.”

I heard it a lot growing up, especially when I did the bare minimum required to get by. For example, if I vacuumed the house but didn’t move tables or light furniture, my mother would say, “Go extra mile.”

Or, if I cooked dinner for myself but not my brother, “Go the extra mile.”

Or when I had something to share but wanted to keep it all to myself, “Go the extra mile.”

***

This phrase, “go the extra mile,” dates back to the life of Jesus. 

In ancient Rome, citizens were legally obligated when asked to carry messages from the emperor to distant provinces.

While there was a limit on the actual distance one was required to travel, Jesus encouraged them to go even further. “Should anyone press you into service for one mile,” he says, “go with him for two miles.”

Christians stretched this idea of going the extra mile into a spiritual practice of doing more than the bare minimum.

For example, instead of praying for five minutes, pray for ten. Instead of going to Mass alone, pick up a neighbor along the way. Instead of feeding one person in need, feed two. Instead of praying for a person once, pray for them twice.

***

How can I go the extra mile today, meaning I not only do something good, but do it even more?

***

“Should anyone press you into service for one mile,” Jesus says, go the extra mile.

***

***

Image credits: (1) Sword of the Spirit, Laurie Pierce (2) Charles Stephen – Medium (3) Innovative Transport Solutions

***

Gospel: Mark 4:26-34

Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”

He said,
“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.

The Gospel of the Lord.

***

***

In April 2020, a ninety-nine-year-old British World War Two veteran, Captain Tom Moore, wanted to raise money to support people who became ill with COVID-19.

He promised to walk one-hundred laps around his garden with his walker before his 100^th birthday, only a few weeks away.

His goal was $1,250.

Then his story went viral.

In all, Captain Tom captivated the hearts of 1.5 million people, raising over $40 million!

What started as a humble effort to help a neighbor exploded into a global obsession.

***

Captain Tom’s story reminds us that God works in mysterious ways, using simple ideas and ordinary people to change the world.

A mustard seed, as Jesus says in the Gospel, is the smallest of seeds. But when sown into the ground, it becomes the largest of plants.

***

***

Consider another “mustard seed” story: Mother Teresa. 

In 1950, she started a small religious order in India, whose mission was, in her words, “to care for the hungry, the naked, the homeless, the crippled, the blind, the lepers, all those people who feel unwanted, unloved, uncared for throughout society.”

Who would be interested in following her?

By the end of last year, the Missionaries of Charity had grown to 5,167 members serving in 139 countries with 760 homes for the homeless, the sick, and the dying.

Volunteers from our own parish prepare food every Monday morning and hand deliver it to the Missionaries of Charity’s soup kitchen in Newark.

The world’s attention – our attention – turned to the poorest of the poor.

And it all started with a single mustard seed.

***

***

The same is true for the Church. 

Jesus began with the Twelve Apostles. Now 1.2 billion people – nearly 1 in 6 – identify as Catholic. That’s a growth of one-million percent!

And it started with just a handful of mustard seeds.

***

A 99-year-old man fundraises $40 million.

A nun from nowhere propels poverty onto the world stage.

A Church with one billion followers starts with twelve.

***

The power of a mustard seed.

***

***

Allow me to conclude with a story whose future is yet to be written:

A small suburban parish, stuck in the middle of a pandemic, starts dying on the vine, languishing six months without a pastor. Suddenly, a young priest is appointed shepherd of that parish. 

One by one, parishioners return. One by one, parishioners get involved. One by one, hearts are changed as people sense real change is coming. 

We, too, are like a mustard seed, “the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.” 

But we will become, “the largest of plants,” as Jesus says, a home for every heart and soul in northern Bergen County and beyond.

While we’ve only just begun, imagine what the Lord can do through us.

It begins with one seed, one step, one “yes” at a time. 

Suddenly, an entire community is transformed.

***

A 99-year-old man fundraises $40 million.

A nun from nowhere propels poverty onto the world stage.

A Church with one billion followers starts with twelve.

Now imagine what we can do.

***

***

Image Credits: (1) The Word Church, YouTube (2) Full Gospel Holy Temple (3) Wales 247 (4) The Independent (5) First15 (6) St. Pius X, Old Tappan, photo taken by Rev. Kevin Kilgore