If our world is growing more unhappy … is it because we are less generous to help and visit others?
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time – November 10, 2024
Today’s readings, where a widow shares her last meal and a widow’s donation is praised, remind us of the transforming power of generosity. In a world where unhappiness seems to grow, could it be because we are becoming less generous in various ways?
I read this story somewhere, and I believe it reveals the importance of generosity. A man was walking in the desert when a voice said to him, “Pick up some of the pebbles and put them in your pocket, and tomorrow you will be both sorry and glad.” The man obeyed. He stooped down and picked up a handful of pebbles and put them in his pocket. The next morning, he reached into his pocket and found diamonds, rubies and emeralds. He was both sorry and glad. Glad he had taken some… sorry he hadn’t taken more!
And so it is with our acts of generosity: often we don’t see any immediate benefit, and feel it is often inconvenient; however, the “next day” we never know what the benefits will be to both the receiver and ourselves. JFK (President of the USA), said in his augural speech: “ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
This quote helps us understand better the call to generosity in today’s readings. What does our country need today? Kindness? Forgiveness? Community service/ volunteers? Support our families in our neighbourhood? Strong families = peaceful communities.
We often think generosity revolves around money, and this is a challenge for many people. However, let us also listen to Mother Teresa: the greatest hunger today is loneliness. This surely opens up our minds to the greater need for generosity in our relationships: in our usual relationships (at home, work, school, sport, etc.), but also relationships with strangers.
It may seem counter-productive to focus on generosity with our time for relationships. However, when we build better relationships with family, friends, neighbours, we feel better, more secure and valued, which stimulates our generosity to those in need of food, money, etc.
Strangers often open up our lives to new realities, new connections, and new opportunities. The widow was praised by Jesus because she did not give left-overs but gave what she had. In the extreme, this can be dangerous, but it should also encourage us to trust in God: that my generosity “now” will not make me starve, will not kill me, and that blessings will follow.
When we link the idea of giving what we have to the generosity of “my” presence, to those who need it, it means we should stop making excuses that I’m too busy, too tired or “they’ll be OK”. If not a visit, what about a phone call? What about a short letter sharing a bit of your life experiences and requesting the other person share their experiences?
It is interesting, and instructive, that the increasing mental health problems many people face today (Kenya= 1 in 4), has occurred during years when people have increasingly disconnected from the Church community or disconnected from families or volunteer groups. Our various forms of generosity builds positive mental health for each of us.
In addition, the focus of teaching in many schools has more and more focused on knowledge, skills and empowering students to do whatever they want, or to follow their dreams: it has reduced education time about our personal and community responsibilities, while emphasising the rights of children. I love many of the wall paintings at Nyumbani Children’s Home which equally emphasises rights and responsibilities. For example: You have a “Right to Care and Love,” but also a “Responsibility to Love and Respect Others.”
In the First Reading: here the example of generosity of food seems even more demanding than what Jesus revealed with the widow: the lady is preparing her last meal and preparing to die when the stranger, Elijah, requests a meal.
What do we learn from this? On one level, the reader could assume that God calls us to give up everything even if it means I will die. However, I see a deeper teaching level: God is teaching us that we live and die together depending on our generosity to each other.
The lady was generous, and the prophet was also generous in response. God teaches us that we live longer when we are generous with family members and strangers. It is the stranger who frequently brings new solutions into our lives, which help us evolve to a new level of life: hopefully easier, but often happier because we have new ways to think/ act.
Today, in many parts of the world, we celebrate Poppy Day (Remembrance Day), anticipating 11th Nov.: the day the great-war ended in 2018. The short response we all participate in saying is: Lest We Forget, the sacrifices made by others for our freedom. It’s a fitting way for us to start this new week: let us also say: Lest we Forget that someone has been generous to me so that I can reach where I am today. May our gratitude inspire me to be generous with others.
By Gerard Conlan, OMI
