REAL HOLY GIVING

Joan Chittister wrote, “When real, holy giving goes on, life goes on. When giving goes on anyplace, immortality happens in that place. When giving goes on, we rise above our private, paltry little selves to the stature of the spiritual colossus that makes heaven a place you can touch on Monday and go to on Tuesday and be proud to have had a part in building every day for the rest of your life.
 
And how does that happen? Well, I’ll tell you in case you’ve forgotten. The fact is that giving happens because individuals, good people, you who have worked hard to make your own money know the grace, the strength, the healthy exercise of giving it away.
 
Almsgiving is a very God-like grace. The one who gives from the heart stands in the shadow of the Abraham who took in strangers who turned out to be messengers from God. The one who gives from the heart stands in the shadow of the Pharaoh who fed the chosen people in time of famine. The almsgiver stands in the shadow of the widow of Israel who gave her last drop of oil and flour—the two lifelines of the Middle East—to rescue the prophet Elijah. The almsgiver stands in the shadow of Mary Magdalene and the women of Jerusalem whom the scripture say—clearly and directly—were the ones who “supported Jesus out of their own substance.”

“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.” Jesus