Gospel Commentary: Give Until it Hurts

By Fr. John Riley
HERALD Columnist
(From the issue of 11/09/00)

My brother called one Monday morning a bit shaken up. "Yesterday at church I put a dollar in the collection plate," he explained. "As generous as ever," I quipped. A lot of good Catholics of my acquaintance think that "if it doesn’t clink, it's more than enough." He continued, "No — you don’t get it. I tipped my bartender five bucks the night before. What does that say about where I rank God?"

He wasn’t kidding. Until that time my brother would never have been what you’d consider a "religious" guy — (he still isn’t). But he’s a good man who wants to be a better man. Suddenly he realized that the way we share our wealth through tithing (or even tipping) can be a statement about our priorities.

In this week’s Gospel a widow drops a couple of copper coins into the collection box at the temple treasury. Christ is present — the only time in history that God directly presides over and comments on the dreaded "collection." Jesus holds up for all time the poor but generous widow as the paradigm for charitable support. He challenges us to give generously; not merely from our surplus, but from our need.

That’s a tough one! What about the kids and the car, the house payments and retirement? How can we dedicate five or 10 percent of their income to support the Church or other charitable causes?

Perhaps we need to think a bit on this one. Let’s be honest. Considering the means of people and nations throughout our world, most of the children of the Arlington Diocese are rich. We have three square meals a day (at least), a job, transportation, a roof over the head, a warm bed and are well on the way to having a TV and a computer in every room. When we’re sick a doctor is usually just a phone call and a short drive away.

Starvation, leprosy, poor sanitation and poverty are not a part of our daily experience. Although we are often wealthy in this world’s goods, we feel financially stressed as we chase after that elusive "quality of life" that seems always just beyond our reach. As confirmed and conditioned consumers, we live and work in a society where we are trained to measure our success, exert our "importance," and even experience our self-esteem according to what we own.

In God’s eyes we are poor. All of this accumulated wealth will one day pass into the hands of others. Unless we have grown rich by sharing with those in need the good things God has given us in this life, our fate may parallel that of the wealthy fool who grew rich for himself instead of in the sight of God (Lk 12:16-21).

When we were growing up, my father always taught us that for a gift to be good and generous, we had to be sure that it "hurt a bit." The widow who gave from her need is the classic example of this truth. Each year we need to take time to look at what we have and what we need. Simple resolutions about how to support the Church and care for the poor have to be formulated and put into effect. Our left hands need to be kept in the dark about what our right hands are doing (Mt 6:3). Whether we are reckoned to be rich or poor in this world’s goods, we need to be detached, to be generous and even be willing to sacrifice or suffer a bit as we share the great and good things God has given to us. Amen.

Fr. Riley is administrator of St. Louis Parish in Alexandria.

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