20191125
PRUDENT
GIVING OR RECKLESS GIVING
25 NOVEMBER,
2019, Monday, 34th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical
Colour: Green.
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First reading
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Daniel 1:1-6,8-20 ©
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Daniel and his companions are trained to be the king's servants in
Babylon
In the third year
of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched
on Jerusalem and besieged it. The Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into
his hands, with some of the furnishings of the Temple of God. He took them away
to the land of Shinar, and stored the sacred vessels in the treasury of his own
gods.
The
king ordered Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to select from the Israelites a
certain number of boys of either royal or noble descent; they had to be without
any physical defect, of good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom,
well-informed, quick at learning, suitable for service in the palace of the
king. Ashpenaz himself was to teach them the language and literature of the
Chaldaeans. The king assigned them a daily allowance of food and wine from his
own royal table. They were to receive an education lasting for three years,
after which they were expected to be fit for the king’s society. Among them
were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, who were Judaeans. Daniel, who was
most anxious not to defile himself with the food and wine from the royal table,
begged the chief eunuch to spare him this defilement; and by the grace of God
Daniel met goodwill and sympathy on the part of the chief eunuch. But he warned
Daniel, ‘I am afraid of my lord the king: he has assigned you food and drink,
and if he sees you looking thinner in the face than the other boys of your age,
my head will be in danger with the king because of you.’ At this Daniel turned
to the guard whom the chief eunuch had assigned to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah. He said, ‘Please allow your servants a ten days’ trial, during
which we are given only vegetables to eat and water to drink. You can then
compare our looks with those of the boys who eat the king’s food; go by what
you see, and treat your servants accordingly.’ The man agreed to do what they
asked and put them on ten days’ trial. When the ten days were over they looked
and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their allowance
from the royal table; so the guard withdrew their allowance of food and the
wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables. And God favoured these four
boys with knowledge and intelligence in everything connected with literature,
and in wisdom; while Daniel had the gift of interpreting every kind of vision
and dream. When the period stipulated by the king for the boys’ training was
over, the chief eunuch presented them to Nebuchadnezzar. The king conversed
with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah. So they became members of the king’s court, and on whatever point
of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times better
than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.
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Responsorial
Psalm
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Daniel 3:52-56 ©
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To
you glory and praise for evermore.
You
are blest, Lord God of our fathers.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
Blest
your glorious holy name.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
You
are blest in the temple of your glory.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
You
are blest on the throne of your kingdom.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
You
are blest who gaze into the depths.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
You
are blest in the firmament of heaven.
To
you glory and praise for evermore.
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Gospel
Acclamation
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Rv2:10
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Even
if you have to die, says the Lord,
keep
faithful, and I will give you
the
crown of life.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Mt24:42,44
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Alleluia,
alleluia!
Stay
awake and stand ready,
because
you do not know the hour
when
the Son of Man is coming.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 21:1-4 ©
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The widow's mite
As Jesus looked
up, he saw rich people putting their offerings into the treasury; then he
happened to notice a poverty-stricken widow putting in two small coins, and he
said, ‘I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than any of them; for
these have all contributed money they had over, but she from the little she had
has put in all she had to live on.’
PRUDENT GIVING
OR RECKLESS GIVING
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Dan 1:1-6. 8-20; Dan 3:52-56; Lk 21:1-4 ]
In the gospel, Jesus
praised a poor Widow who gave two mites to the Temple treasury, which was all
she had for her sustenance.
And the Lord remarked, “I tell you truly, this poor widow has put in more than
any of them; for these have all contributed money they had over, but she from
the little she had has put in all she had to live on.” What is your
immediate reaction to what the woman did and what Jesus said?
We can only marvel at
the generosity and faith of this poor widow. Her love for God must be great. But
her faith was even greater because not only did she love God so much that she
would give away all she had to live on, but she trusted that God would somehow
look after her. More likely than not, the poor would lament that God is
unjust when they see others around them being more blessed than them, much less
for one to give all one has back to God.
Indeed, the faith of the
woman was even greater than her generosity. It was her faith in God’s love that
caused her to be generous even though she herself might not have experience
that love concretely in her life. Nevertheless, she was grateful to God
for the little that she received from Him. She did not ask for
more. From her we learn that giving is dependent on faith and
thanksgiving. Indeed, the acronym used by our Official Fund Raising
Agency, Catholic Foundation, is “GIFT”, which means Giving in Faith and
Thanksgiving. Without Faith and Thanksgiving, there is no real giving.
Jesus praised the widow
because she gave in faith and in gratitude for whatever God had given her. She knew that her life and all that
she had belonged to God. She claimed nothing as her own. Such was
her attitude towards God and life. Indeed, when a person is grateful for what
she has, this gratitude will always be expressed in generosity. The
lesser the generosity means the lesser the gratitude towards God and those who
bless them with gifts and favours. It is the normal reaction of those who
are humble in receiving God’s blessings directly or through others to return
all that they received back to Him and for the service of His people.
However, was her giving
of all that she had rather reckless?
We might give to others what we have been blessed with. Which one of us
would give everything to God or help others without first providing for
ourselves? Most of us would be more like the wealthy people in the gospel
who gave out of their abundance. Charity, as they say, begins at home,
even though it does not stay there. Indeed, most of us would think that
we are quite generous if we give from our abundance. We could have used
that money for our comfort and enjoyment instead of giving them away. So
even if we give from our abundance, it does not mean that there is no merit in
what we do. It is still an act of gratitude to God for blessing us with
His gifts even though we do not give back all to Him and His people.
So, should we give all
that we have to God and His people, leaving ourselves with nothing to live
on? Would we consider such an act a lack of prudence or an act of
faith? Obviously,
in ordinary circumstances, we should be taking care of ourselves before we take
care of others. Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as
ourselves. Thus, it is not wrong to fend for ourselves first before we
take care of others. Even in the case of saving the life of a mother and
her baby, the Church tells us to save the mother first and if possible, the
life of the baby. Therefore, it would certainly be a lack of
judgment for someone to give everything away and leave nothing for his family
or himself to survive on. We might even be putting God to the test, as
the devil tempted Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple so that the
angels could catch Him from falling. And Jesus’ reply was, “Again it is
written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'” (cf Mt 4:5-7)
Having said this, there
are nevertheless special occasions when God gives us a special grace to do what
the widow did.
This is seen in the life of St Francis of Assisi and many other saints who came
from rich and noble families and stripped themselves of all their wealth to
give to the poor and followed Jesus, just like the young man who was asked to
follow Jesus. “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and
give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow
me.” (Mt 19:21) This would be an extraordinary
grace of God. Hence, “when the young man heard this word, he went away
grieving, for he had many possessions.” (Mt 19:22) Even the apostles who claimed
that they had left everything to follow Jesus (cf Mt 19:27) were expecting some reward for their
act of following Jesus. It was not pure giving. To give of
ourselves like the widow and our Lord completely even unto death, stripping
ourselves of our riches completely is indeed a great act of faith and a special
charism given to those who are called by God to be a sign of faith for
others. But it is not a grace given to all.
This does not mean that
we are exempted from giving generously, but we are called to be prudent in
giving. This
was in the case of the prophet Daniel in today’s first reading. He and
his friends were in exile in Babylon. Thanks to God’s grace, the king was
inspired to recruit from among “the Israelites a certain number of boys of
either royal or noble descent; they had to be without any physical defect, of
good appearance, trained in every kind of wisdom, well-informed, quick at
learning, suitable for service in the palace of the king.” Daniel and his
friends cooperated with the pagan king whilst prudently practicing their faith.
Indeed, they were
concerned initially in serving the king because they were afraid that their
faith and customs would be compromised. So when they were instructed to take “the food
and wine from the royal table”, thereby defiling themselves, Daniel “begged the
chief eunuch to spare him this defilement; and by the grace of God Daniel met
goodwill and sympathy on the part of the chief eunuch.” However to
avoid angering the king by a direct confrontation, Daniel was wise and flexible
enough to make a compromise by proposing a ten-day trial period where they ate
only vegetables and given only water to drink. At the end of the period,
“they looked and were in better health than any of the boys who had eaten their
allowance from the royal table; so the guard withdrew their allowance of food
and the wine they were to drink, and gave them vegetables.”
Because of their faith
in God, and their willingness to exercise prudence in achieving the plan of God
beyond Israel by reaching out to pagan nations, they were able to influence the
king and helped the Babylonians to come to a great appreciation of the God of
Israel. Indeed,
“God favoured these four boys with knowledge and wisdom; while Daniel had the
gift of interpreting every kind of vision and dream. The king conversed
with them, and among all the boys found none to equal Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael
and Azariah. So they became members of the kings’ court, and on whatever
point of wisdom or information he might question them, he found them ten times
better than all the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom.”
When giving ourselves to
God and the service of His people, we, too, must employ the wisdom of Daniel
and the faith of the Widow in discerning what the Lord wants us to do with our
resources. We must be
careful that we do not under the pretext of prudence, act selfishly in not
using our resources to serve God and His people. On the other hand,
we do not always have to surrender everything in a moment without a special
grace of God to enlighten us as to whether He wants us to make a prophetic act
for the conversion of people. In the final analysis, what is
critical is that we must be generous with what the Lord has blessed us
with. However, we must exercise proper stewardship according to
what the Lord asks of us. We must use all that He has given to us, for
our own needs and whatever is balance, it must be employed wisely and prudently
for the service of God and His people.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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