04-10-24 Lebih dari Sekedar Memberi: Mengapa Kemurahan Hati Itu Penting

Monday 31st week in ordinary time "Lk 14:12-14" Jesus said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Generosity is giving without expecting anything back. A holy priest explained it very well to an old lady. She wanted to pay him for having brought Holy Communion to her when she was sick. The priest said, "Please, don't. Please don't pay me. Let Jesus pay me instead," and with a smile he added, "He's rich. He pays much more!" Generous people know how to give love, understanding, thanks or material help without ever asking to be loved, understood, thanked or helped themselves. They give and forget that they have given. They never think about what they can get, but about what they can give. And the more they give, the happier they are and the closer God is to them. Those who are generous with others can be generous with God. Love is the reason to give and the reward as well. We give out of love; we give because we love; whatever it is that we give, it's always love that we are giving. The joy of the lover is to love. The joy of the generous giver is to give. They always wonder what else they can give. 'If God gave Himself entirely', they argue, 'why shouldn't I give myself entirely also?' They want to give 'everything' and God will repay them with 'everything'. Bishop Eijo y Garay had an interview with Bl Álvaro before his ordination. Álvaro del Portillo had been one of the most brilliant students in his university; he had great intellectual talents and enormous professional prestige as an engineer. The Bishop asked him, 'But, Álvaro, do you realise that you will lose your "personality"? You will go from being a prestigious engineer to becoming just one more priest'. 'Know, your Excellency,' replied Bl Alvaro, 'that I gave my "personality" to Our Lord many years ago.' He didn't have money or possessions to give, but he could give his career, his prestige, his personality! When you give to God… you just give everything. Mary, Mother Most Generous, teach me to give without counting the cost.