Homilies

32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME: THE PAIN AND JOY IN GIVING

ONE TIME, a parish received some boxes of relief goods which accordingly came from generous people abroad. The parish priest then called some of his parishioners, being the recipients of the received goods. When the parish workers started opening the boxes, the first to appear were canned goods. People were overjoyed upon seeing them, but, the joy was short-lived when they learned that some goods were already “expired.” Perhaps, the transport of the goods took very long. Since some of these goods could no longer be consumed, the parishioners now put their hopes on the non-edible stuff. Indeed, when the other boxes were opened, the people were happy to see clothing and pairs of shoes. But when the children shoes were given, the recipients noticed that some have no “proper pairs” and yet, these children were still happy to put them on.

In our gospel, Jesus gives us an idea of what true sharing is. It is a kind of a reflection on Christian sharing. Jesus compares the quality of sharing between the rich and the poor. Jesus was aware of the rich who “put in large sums.” But he was more curious of the poor widow who “put in two small coins worth a few cents.” He then concluded that the poor widow has put in more than any other. The rich contributed from their surplus wealth, but the widow contributed “all she had.”

With this, I would say that, first, Christian sharing involves pain. There is pain in giving, so to say. On the part of the widow, we know it was painful for her to share the two small coins because she needed them very much. As the gospel says, the coins represent her whole livelihood. But still she let go of it. Christian sharing is all about that. If we give, we give something that we also need, but then we decide to let go of it because we find that others are more in need of it. Consequently, we feel the pain. On the contrary, if we give from our excess, we never feel any pain at all. Or if we share things which we no longer use, we don’t feel any pain. In fact, we only feel relieved because we can now get rid of these things. I am not saying that giving our extra and things that we no longer use is bad. The gospel simply challenges us to practice a true Christian generosity which is sacrifice-filled and pain-filled.

Second, there is joy in sharing. To let go of something which one needs can be painful, but there is also a concomitant joy it gives us. We have witnessed that when a recent destructive typhoon hit Manila, a good number of generous people came to help the typhoon victims. In their faces and statements, we have witnessed their joy and fulfillment. Often this joy cannot be fully described and explained. For some, people give because it is meritorious. Some Christians believe that this goodness can be paid off in the next life. Or some simply believe in the saying, “the more you give, the more you receive.” But I think the joy is more caused by the fact that through giving, we have helped and we become part of the lives of these people who are recipients of our generosity. This can be a source of our joy and fulfillment. It simply shows that indeed we are a brother and a sister to each other.

A generous person is never selfish. A selfish person cannot be generous because he or she merely thinks of his/her self and needs. A generous person goes out from the “world of the self” and now enters in to the “world of others.” This is the truth of the poor widow. If she thinks only of herself and her survival, she will never be able to let of the two coins that she had. But she momentarily forgets her own needs. She wills to let go of that and puts in the coins to the treasury. She demonstrates and exemplifies a true Christian sharing: pain-filled and joy-filled.

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