Thursday 23 March 2023

Psalm 25:1-7

Background

For Lent, I eagerly desired a great gift: to be able to help others. I have been neglecting giving to those who ask. My excuse to myself is that I would like to help but I have no cash on me, only a card. So, I devised a spiritual plan to tackle the problem. First of all, I got some change and put it into the pocket of a winter waistcoat, that is so warm, I wish I did not need to remove it to go to bed. With no need for an excuse anymore, a gentle joy came back to my heart: it's great to be able to give even a small token to someone who asks.

This made me think that I was translating the ancient commandment not to harvest to the edge of the field leaving some ears of corn for the poor and outcast (Leviticus 19:9-10) into my own context. The spirit of my action was the same as that of the Old Testament commandment, but brought up to date in my 21st-century life. The Lenten discipline of alms-giving triggered in me a gift of the Holy Spirit: to help those in need by sharing a little bit of what I have, even if it is just a token.

There are greater gifts of the Spirit than putting some coins in a pocket to help others. An apostle knows how to build the faith community, and bring about things that still don’t exist. A prophet has a knack for noticing injustices and presents a penetrating critique. A teacher points out new horizons for the disciples to explore. A miracle worker never takes a no for an answer. Healing the soul as well as the body must be a gift that comes from God, but also from nature and above all from science. Of course, science is not separate from the Spirit of God. We need science to administer and manage means to deliver the vision. As for the gift of tongues of the Spirit or simply the human idioms, they dominate communication and allow real sharing of emotions and ideas. There is only meaning in all of these gifts if they are shared. The word we used most when our children were young was: "share, share".

To Ponder:

• What does it take to make things happen in the community?
• ‘A single bird does not make the summer’ is a Brazilian saying. What is the wisdom in it? What are the limitations of this saying?
• Why is ‘the apostle’ the most important gift of the Spirit in the text we read today? What is involved in developing this gift?

Prayer

Let us pray with St Augustine: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." In the journey towards that, Lord, keep us industrious. Amen.