Example Inspires Generosity 

In Matthew 5:39, 40, 41, the Kindness that expresses Patient Endurance appears in acts of overwhelming Generosity: turning the other cheek, giving a cloak as well as a coat, walking another mile. Only Christ’s example justifies such excess. 

Christ died for the ungodly… Rarely will anyone die for a righteous person… But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us (Romans 5:6).  

Pope Francis says love “shows its fruitfulness”—the Fruit of the Spirit—when it lets us “experience the… grandeur of spending ourselves unstintingly, without asking to be repaid, purely for the pleasure of giving and serving” (Joy of Love 94). 

We experience divine life when we are generous simply because Jesus was. Then we experience ourselves as the risen Jesus, who is acting with us, in us, and through us. That is the “Fruit of the Spirit.”  

In Mark 10:23, a man was looking for more than “Ten Commandment goodness.” Jesus suggested an act of Generosity so extreme it would be an experience of divine life: “Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.” When the man “went away sad,” Jesus said the rich could hardly enter the kingdom of God. 

His shocked disciples asked: “Then who can be saved?” 

Jesus answered, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”  

Those living God’s divine Life have the Generosity that is a Fruit of the Spirit—if they follow Christ’s example. 

— Fr. David M. Knight

View today’s Mass readings on the USCCB website here

Easter season is the time to focus on the Holy Spirit. Starting on Easter Sunday, we will look carefully at how the Spirit is proclaimed, invoked, and presented to us in the Mass. Lex orandi, lex credendi: “As the Church prays, so she believes.”

After that, we will reflect on the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2; Galatians 5:22), and at how the Spirit enters the life of those who believe.

As you read these reflections, ask for the gift of Understanding. Ask to really understand what you believe, what you see and hear at Mass. Go deeper into understanding the Mass than you ever have before. We experience the Faith when we become aware of its mystery. We hope you reflect deeply on the Mass and Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and find yourself more and more drawn into the mysteries of our Lord in the Mass and in His Gifts.