Homily, 6-30-24: Sunday of the 13th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle B:
“For you know the gracious act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”
Jesus in His divine nature was rich, He had need for nothing. But out of love for us, He became human. He became poor. He was born as a helpless baby in a stable. In his adult life, he often went without basic needs of food and shelter. “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” For our sake, Jesus performed a gracious act. We became spiritually rich; we now have the promise of sharing His divinity.
In today’s reading, St. Paul compliments the Corinthians for their faith and knowledge and love, but then he entreats them to follow Jesus’ example; to perform a gracious act as Jesus did. In a way it is a test to see if their love is true. In St. James letter, in his discussion of faith and works, he writes: “If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,’ but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?” If we have true love, our actions will correspond with that love.
And St. Paul asks that the Corinthians willingly continue with their effort to contribute to the Church according to their ability. He does not give them a command, or set a given amount, for their contributions. He implores them to act generously out of love. In his earlier letter to the Corinthians, he wrote: “If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Love and charity are often used interchangeably when we discuss the virtues because they are essentially the same thing—you can’t really have one without the other.
In today’s reading, Paul is not asking the Corinthians to give away everything. He is not even asking them to give from their need as the widow who Jesus praised for putting her two small coins into the treasury. He asks that they give from their abundance. He says: “Not that others should have relief while you are burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their needs.”
In our secular world, we pay taxes. And a portion of those taxes is used to give relief to people in need. Sometimes we feel like we are burdened by our taxes so that others can be relieved, especially when we feel those funds are not spent wisely or given to those who do not try to help themselves. And so we look around our community, our country, and our world for places where we can identify true needs so that we can demonstrate true Christian charity—giving willingly from our excess to offer relief to those who are burdened with severe poverty.
We all have our favorite charities. Jenni and I especially support Food for the Poor, Catholic Medical Missions Board, pregnancy centers, and of course Friends of the Congo. We need to be generous to our chosen charities out of our abundance of wealth and out of our abundance of blessings. For indeed, compared to those in many parts of South America, Africa, and the Caribbean, we truly have an abundance.
But sometimes we can go too far in trying to be in control of how our charitable contributions are directed. We give all our donations to charities we choose, but give very little, or nothing, in support of our parish or the diocese. Maybe we have a problem with the actions of a particular priest or bishop and we hold back our contributions to the operation of the Church. We try to vote with our envelopes, hoping that we might effect a change, although these votes rarely accomplish the desired effect. But we need to put aside our differences with the Church hierarchy and remember that there is a business side of the Church’s operation that must be funded if it is to survive.
St. Paul is pleading with the Corinthians to support the church in Jerusalem which has made their faith possible. And like or not, we need to support the church in Detroit that has brought, and continues to bring, the faith to southeast Michigan. Unlike Paul’s pleading, however, the archdiocese demands our support through CSA contributions. Parishioners must donate the amount set for their parish, or the difference will be made up from parish funds. We either pay directly to the diocese, or we pay with funds contributed to the parish that have already been taxed by the archdiocese. It is in our best interest to meet our parish CSA goal, especially since anything over that goal comes back directly to the parish. In some ways it is better to contribute to CSA than directly to the parish even if we disagree with archdiocesan policies or actions.
In the United States, 10% of taxpayers pay about 75% of all taxes. They pay these taxes because it is a legal requirement. In the Church, we are called to tithe, but there is no requirement as to what we must give to the support of the parish, the Church, or to charities. Research indicates that only about 2% of Catholics actually tithe, that is, donate 10% of their income to the church and other charities. A survey referenced in Matthew Kelly’s book, The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic, indicates that 7% of Catholics donate 80% of all parish contributions. Some of those 7% might have a greater abundance to share, but I think many simply have greater generosity.
I ask you to consider, pray, and reflect on the generosity of your contributions. Are they the gracious act that Paul calls for? Are they an adequate response to the very gracious act of Jesus?
Our financial donations are not merely an obligation to do what is right and demonstrate our love for our neighbor. They help us to be holy and happy. We grow in holiness when we perform the works of mercy to which Jesus calls us. We accomplish many of the corporal works of mercy through our gifts to charities; feeding the poor and clothing the naked. But we also accomplish many of the spiritual works of mercy through our gifts to the Church; instructing the ignorant, counseling the doubtful, admonishing the sinner, comforting the sorrowful, and burying the dead.
And we grow in happiness when we are generous. Matthew Kelly writes: “The happiest people I know are also the most generous people I know.” I think I agree with him. Consider the people you know and see if you agree as well.