Tuesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(II Corinthians 8:1-9; Matthew 5:43-48)
A recent magazine article tells the story of how the very
rich give away much less of their income than poorer people and then, not to
charities but to non-profits like universities and hospitals. St. Paul
addresses the issue in today’s second reading.
Paul appeals to the Corinthians to be generous in the collection
for the poor in Jerusalem. He says that the
churches of Macedon – principally, the Philippians and the Thessalonians –
although relatively poor in comparison to the church in Corinth, have proven to
be remarkably self-sacrificing in their contributions to the collection. He then asks the Corinthians to consider
Christ who sacrificed the richness of divinity to become a lowly human so that
humans could share in divine glory.
We receive so many requests from churches and charities
that it seems the regular mail service is no more than a conduit for such
appeals and for advertisement. We should
not become frustrated nor feel guilty about not giving to everyone who
asks. Rather, we should give what we can
– even until it hurts -- to those who seem most in need of our help. Doing so, we imitate Christ and can hope to
share in his glory.
