Generosity Brings Healing to the Body of Christ and to the World

In reading the Gospels we see that most of the miracles of Christ were those of healing and feeding. Good health and food are basic to human life. We should be thankful for these gifts. Our Lord by His actions was showing the people that He was the source of their true happiness, wholeness and fulfillment. He is the ultimate source and example of true generosity. He gave His life for us. His generosity brought us healing, forgiveness and the promise of Eternal Life.

The Gospel relates that once when Our Lord was confronted with a multitude of people, and it had become late in the day, He told His Disciples that the people needed to be fed. Christ feared they would faint or suffer on their way home. The Disciples responded by saying: “How could they feed so many?” They could only find “five loaves and a few fish”. The Lord instructed them to have the people sit down in groups, as they prepared to be fed. The Lord put his followers to work.

The Gospel tells us that the great crowd went away satisfied, and that many baskets of food were left over. This miracle demonstrates that we should not underestimate the generosity of God. We are called to be generous to one another. Our Lord directed the Apostles and Disciples to share the food with the people. We too are called to share what we have with those around us.

Generosity brings healing not only to the Body of Christ, the Church, but also to the World around us. We are certainly taught to love our neighbor as our own self. God is the source of life and all the gifts that exist. We should be thankful for such gifts. In recognizing our gifts, or blessings, we are called to use them and touch the lives of others. These people may be our family, friends, co- workers, or our society and even other nations. We may even be called to “love our enemies” in order to bring healing to the world. We should pray for the grace to see others as Children of God.

We can easily see that the World around us has many needs. We can see want, ignorance, and violence all over our planet. We are called to bring healing to the world around us.

Reconciliation or forgiveness is a powerful tool that brings healing to our hurting world. When people forgive one another great healing occurs, and the ripple effect touches the lives of others. We should be careful that justice and mercy are not separated in our actions and judgments. If justice and mercy are separated then evils or damage will arise affecting our neighbor. Love and forgiveness lead to generosity. Generosity leads to healing.

Our parish has the custom of dedicating Lent as a time to consider the “Sacrificial Giving of our Treasure”, especially to assist the needs of others and our parish community. Christians are called to follow the Lord in generosity. We should be thankful for our gifts and use them well for the common good.