Kind and Merciful March 10

Who is there like you, the God who removes guilt and pardons sin for the remnant of his inheritance; Who does not persist in anger forever, but delights rather in clemency, And will again have compassion on us, treading underfoot our guilt? You will cast into the depths of the sea all our sins. Micah 7:18-19

So he got up and went back to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. Luke 15:20

Piety

Generous and loving merciful God, help us to make the changes needed in our life to turn and grow back toward you seeking perfection in our life. Can you see us turn back toward you? Have you set out to meet us more than halfway?

We remain a long way off but with your love to attract us, we can not help but turn back toward you, Father. Amen.

Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/031007.shtml

We live our spiritual life through the cultivation of certain traits and behaviors that God models for us. Among these are generosity, humility, love, and wisdom. We start where we are and refine these actions through practice.

These are never better displayed than through the classic parable of the Prodigal Son. In light of the generous and loving example showed today in Micah and Luke’s rendition of the parable, what kind of giver are you?

For example, there are three degrees of generosity recognized in Buddhist tradition that translate well into our life. The first they call “beggarly giving.” Here, the giver only gives items that no longer have any value. Even then, we spend much time wondering whether to give or not: “What if I fit in this better next summer?” “Maybe it still has some good wear left in it?” “I could always pass this down to the children.” This is like the exercise we undertake when getting a call from the Salvation Army or Purple Hearts.

A second higher level of generosity is called friendly giving where we share with others the very things that we use for ourselves.

The highest level is called “kingly giving.” At this level, we take great delight in giving the best of what we have, those things that we value most, and we are always looking for opportunities to give.

We can move up this chain by examining our motivations for giving and how they change over our lifetime. We aspire to give, like the Father in the Prodigal Son parable, freely and openly of the best we have without any expectation of anything to return to us.

Action

God gives out of love and kindness only at the highest level. What percent of your giving comes from each of these levels? What do you expect to get when you give…a thank you note? …a premium like public television gives away? …a smile from the recipient?

How can you move a greater percentage of your giving to the highest category?