Prayer and fasting are good, but......

 

Raphael, a central character in the Book of Tobit, finally revealed himself as a messenger of God, one of the seven angels who serve God.  He was the one who presented to God the prayers of Tobit for sight, Tobiah for a wife, and Sarah for healing from her curse.  The family was eternally grateful to Raphael. Tobit told Tobiah to pay Raphael his wages, plus a big bonus.  Raphael, who had no use for money, instructed them to give thanks to God.  The way to give thanks to God was to share their possessions with others.  "Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving…" (Tobit 12:1-20)

As I reflected on these Scriptures, I wondered if my giving is accompanied by righteousness.  I’m pretty sure I don’t fall into that category all the time.  And I certainly don’t give every penny I have.

I think that Jesus might have been once again using hyperbole to make a point.  And He raises up as our model for giving from the heart the lowly, the outcast, the despised, the overlooked in the form of a poor widow.

It reminded me of the words of Jesus when He spoke of the final judgement of mankind (Matthew 25:40): "As often as you do it to the least of my brothers and sisters you do it to me."  Generosity is the spirit of thanksgiving.  If we’re profoundly grateful, we won’t hoard our possessions.  Jesus criticized the scribes for their selfish spirit, their desire to be served rather than serve others, thinking about what they could get rather than what they could share, especially with those in need.  Jesus pointed to a poor woman at the treasury of the Temple.  She offered two coins.  She could have given one coin and kept the other one for her own needs.  That sounds very reasonable and prudent.  But she gave all the coins she had (Mark 12:38-44). 

The two coins were an insignificant amount, yet her giving received special notice from God.  We give because we can’t help ourselves; we’re grateful for all God has done, and we want to give, cheerfully. God will notice.

Proverbs 11:24 reminds us, "The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller."

Surely Jesus doesn’t expect us to donate every penny, thus impoverishing ourselves.  He’s set a high standard to make a point, to reveal a truth.  And that point seems to me to be not to give ostentatiously, for show, but give all of oneself.  Give with love.  Give even the little things with great love, as St. Therese said.  We’re to love God with our whole heart, our whole soul, our whole mind.  All that we are (Mark 12:30).

God wants to give us all of Himself; and yearns for us to give all of ourselves in grateful response.

Let’s challenge ourselves to meet God’s generosity with our own.