Some people can be quite tight fisted or stingy or calculative
with their wealth and time. Such people have no qualms about demanding and expecting the church to give them
all kinds of things, or offer them all sorts of services, but they themselves are quite reluctant to give or offer their services in
return. Some even put on a monkey face or sour face when giving or offering their services. I recall one incident where a group of people kept on insisting that the church be air-conditioned, since the weather is quite hot and they felt entitled to better facilities in church. When I asked whether they would be willing to sponsor some aircons and even help pay for the electricity bill, they quickly backed down and tried to change the subject. Easy to demand and suggest indeed, but not easy to help or contribute.
In today's
reading, St. Paul cautions us: "Do not forget: thin sowing means thin
reaping; the more you sow, the more you reap. Each one should give what
he has decided in his own mind, not grudgingly or because he is made to,
for God loves a cheerful giver. And there is no limit to the blessings
which God can send you – he will make sure that you will always have all
you need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have
something to spare for all sorts of good works."
Are we
giving because we are being pressured or forced or coerced to? Or are
we giving happily and willingly? God is generous to each
and every one of us by being our providence and guide, and what He
grants us is far more substantial than what we could ever give. If that is the case, why do some of us still give so culculatively, or grudgingly? Are we not willing to be as generous as God is to us?
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