13 April 2021
Tuesday of the Second Week of Easter
To what degree of generosity is God calling you? Inwardly, your generosity must be total. When you pray “thy will be done,” you must make that prayer without qualification, understanding that the God who gave you your entire life does ask you to return everything to him in accordance with his will, including, ultimately, your life itself.
Inwardly, it is true that you must give God everything. Outwardly, though, it’s a matter for discernment. When we read about Barnabas selling a field and laying the money at the feet of the apostles (Acts 4:37), it inspires our inward generosity, but it does not necessarily demand strict imitation outwardly. The Church has never taught that every Christian must sell all of his property and donate the proceeds to the Church. It is true, as Acts says, that a great number (πλῆθος, multitudo) of Christians lived this way, but not all. Are you called to join that great number, or are you called to make more modest contributions?
One of the themes of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola is making a decision about how much outward generosity you should commit yourself to. Should you sell this or that and donate the proceeds to the Church? Should you give up some free time and teach catechism, or volunteer at a soup kitchen? If you are unsure how to answer this question, it might be a good time to make the Spiritual Exercises.