Charity in the Season of Lent

Any time is the right time for works of charity, but these days of Lent provide a special encouragement. During this holy season, let us now extend to the poor and those afflicted in different ways a more open-handed generosity, so that God may be thanked through many voices and the relief of the needy supported by our fasting. No act of devotion on the part of the person gives God more pleasure than that which is lavished on his poor children.

In these acts of giving do not fear a lack of means. A generous spirit is itself great wealth. There can be no shortage of material for generosity where it is Christ who feeds and Christ who is fed.

The giver of alms should be free from anxiety and full of joy. His gain will be greatest when he keeps back least for himself. - (From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great).

GENEROUS GIVING

Thought for the Day: "Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you." — Deuteronomy 16:17


When we think of generosity, we might look at the size of the gift or the nobility of the cause. But Jesus measured generosity by a radically new standard: the condition of the giver’s heart. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21). So, giving is more than an obligation for followers of Christ; it is an exciting opportunity to lay up treasure that will last for all eternity. “The Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (Acts 20:35b).