Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
As disciples of Jesus Christ, we want to give to God – to give God our devotion, our obedience, our worship, our adoration, our time, our talents, our charisms, our service . . . the list goes on. Giving to God becomes part of our growth in holiness, indeed in developing our relationship with God. In today’s Gospel text, we hear Jesus telling us how not to give to God. He describes specific behaviors, but he cuts to the heart of our motivation and orientation. Our Lord asks, effectively, what is the orientation of your being when you perform righteous deeds, when you pray, when you fast, when you give alms? Are you oriented more toward self or toward God? In Jesus’ day, the religious leaders would actually make a public spectacle of themselves. It was common for them to make a huge show of their religious practices, effectively demonstrating to others in the public square their extreme piety and apparent devotion to God. The louder the display, the more fervent the devotion (or so it seemed). We don’t typically stand on street corners shouting our prayers, and we probably don’t make ourselves look as haggard as possible while we are fasting in order to draw attention to ourselves, but I wonder if there are times when you and I are motivated by a desire to be noticed for our religiosity, generosity, or works of service. I think our Gospel text invites some introspection and examination of conscience today as we reflect on our personal motives around how we worship and serve God.
Both of today’s texts invite reflection on “giving” and “taking.” We are called to give ourselves completely to God – heart, soul, mind, and strength. Sometimes we wind up doing so out of our limited energy and capacity. I wonder if that’s what the religious leaders in Jesus’ day were doing with their public displays of religiosity. Perhaps there was some degree of desperation, even, in their desire to give to the extreme in order to be found faithful by God. Do we sometimes strive so hard to pour ourselves out that we miss out on the fullness that God wants to provide to us to fuel our Christian life and devotion?
St Paul’s life-giving words leap off the page! “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.” God is able to make every grace abundant for you . . . WOW! I don’t labor in my own strength in order to please God, God actually supplies every grace that I need! Just as God gives seed to the sower, so through the Holy Spirit we receive the “seed” that we need in order to produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives. I used to think of God’s grace as a singular, all-encompassing phenomenon, sort of like a vast, unlimited ocean. I suppose that’s a valid metaphor. But I’ve come to understand that out of that infinite vastness, God also gives specific grace – unique graces that equip me for whatever I face moment-by-moment. What graces do you need from God today? What specific gifts might you ask for? Ask confidently, knowing that God desires to make every grace abundant for you.
Ironically, the more we surrender ourselves to God, the more we allow God to take, the more receptive we become to what God wants to give us. Pouring ourselves out before God, asking God to take all that we are and all that we have establishes the openness to be able to receive all that God wants to give us. Now, from this posture of receptivity and openness to God’s grace and presence, we can pray, fast, give alms, serve, and offer all the other forms of devotion fueled by the Holy Spirit, not by our own human effort. We give to God by allowing God to “take us” first.
St Ignatius of Loyola offers us a beautiful prayer. It’s called the Suscipe Prayer, from the Latin meaning “to take.” Let’s make it our prayer today as we invite God’s abundant grace and unlimited graces to fill and fuel us today.
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To you, Lord, I return it.
Everything is yours; do with it what you will.
Give me only your love and your grace,
that is enough for me.
- Elizabeth Wourms