Give and Gifts Will Be Given To You
February 25, 2013
Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Lord, great and
awesome God, you who keep your merciful covenant toward those who love you and
observe your commandments! We have
sinned, been wicked and done evil; we have rebelled and departed from your
commandments and your laws. We have not
obeyed your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes,
our fathers, and all the people of the land.
Justice, O Lord, is on your side; we are shamefaced even to this day. Deuteronomy 9:4b-7b
Jesus said to his
disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be
condemned. Forgive and you will be
forgiven. Give and gifts will be given
to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured
into your lap. For the measure with
which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Luke 6:36-38
Piety
Lord, do not deal
with us according to our sins. (Psalm 79)
Study
Mercy.
Perfection. Either way the bar is
set high. We pray constantly that we
might have the grace that will allow us to imitate the life of Christ.
Yet, our God is an awesome God. He does not deal with us according to our
sins of commission or omission. God
looks not on the obstacles. God looks
not on when we often stumble. Our God
only looks at the God side and waits.
God waits, like the longing Father in the parable of the prodigal
offspring. God waits at the window until
we change the direction in which we seek happiness. God waits, ready for us when we seek
happiness in divine union with the Lord.
Just as prayer on the mountaintop changed Jesus, when we
turn toward Him, our prayer, our study and our action will change us. Only the
Lord knows the rest of our stories.
Action
Did you catch this story in Parade magazine Sunday?
The article, "Finding a Better Way to Give,"
presents advice from the new book With Charity for All by former NPR
head Ken Stern who offers this
tip (among others) to make your donations count:
The way most charities are rated
(based on factors like "administrative ratios" and salaries) has
little to do with how effective they are. Before you donate to an organization,
check it out on givewell.org
or charitynavigator.com.
Also look at the group's website—any legitimate charity will post its audited
financial statements and offer specific evidence of results.
Note: The book will be released February 26.
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