Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord

In this coming Sunday's Mass (the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time) readings the overarching theme is one of generosity. However, when speaking about being generous, it isn't simply about being nice and definitely not about trying to gain favors with people or with God. The Christian idea of charity and generosity is this: a desire to share what God has given us in imitation of Him and out of love for Him and for His people!

In the first reading we hear about a family who shows great generosity to the prophet Elisha. They recognize he is a "holy man of God" and so they decide to set up a room for him to stay during his frequent travels through their area. This act of hospitality and generosity are not done to garner favor from God or from Elisha, but simply out of love for God and God's servant. And so, recognizing this woman's generosity, Elisha prays that she may bear a son, and though the story for Mass ends here, the story in the Second Book of Kings continues not only with a son being born but even more miracles to come.

In the Gospel, Jesus references this story when he says, "Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward." Again, Jesus is reminding us: this is not about being nice in order to trap God in some sort of deal where he has to do good things for us. It is about being generous, about imitating God and sharing the good things God has given us, out of a love for God and for God's people and, in these instances, a love for those who do God's work.

So, let us pray this week that our hearts may grow in generosity. In a world filled with greed and a constant desire for gain, it is so easy to do charitable things simply to get tax breaks, to be noticed, to garner favors, or to try and gain God's love as if charity were some kind of tradable good. May our hearts become so full of love for God and for God's people that we desire to be charitable in imitation of God, who has been so generous to us. And when this happens, the response from this Sunday's psalm will truly become our own anthem and motto of life, both in word and deed: Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Want to prepare your heart and mind for Mass this weekend? Click here to find the readings for this Sunday's Mass.