Be generous this Lent: Ash Wednesday

            I just finished reading a great book: Matthew Kelly’s The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic (he’s the one that wrote Rediscover Catholicism) and I highly recommend it.  This book came thanks to a lot of research Kelly and his crew did regarding Catholics in the United States. 

            This research began with a question—does the Catholic Church operate according to the 80-20 rule (20% of people do 80% of the work, give 80% of the money, etc.) like other businesses?  What he found: 7% of Catholics give 80% of the volunteer hours, finances and energy of any given parish in the United States.  Kelly then asked, “What sets these 7% apart from the 93%?”  Here is where the four signs come in.  I know you’ll read the book, so I won’t spoil it by giving them all away now.  But I will tell you the third sign is generosity, and I would like to focus on this theme as we enter Lent.

            Kelly maintains that a generous heart can only be found with a gracious heart.  This makes sense.  If you recognize that everything you have—your life, breath, ability to walk, gifts, talents, material possessions—are on loan to you from God, you are more likely to share these with blessings with others.  On the other hand, someone who only thinks “That is mine,” “I earned it,” or “I deserve this” is more likely to cling tightly to what they have without sharing.

            How generous are you? 

            Typically we Catholics look at generosity from three angles: time, talent and treasure.  How much time do you give to others?  To serving the poor?  In deference to your spouse or child’s desire?  Time that has no self-interest?  Could you give five minutes a week to intentional serving?

How about your talents?  Do you use them to serve our parish?  Do you help a classmate who is struggling with school or a teammate who doesn’t understand a play?  Do you assist your child or younger brother or sister?  Could you use some talent of yours once a week to help someone else?

Finally, what about your treasure?  Do you give your first fruits back to God?  What do you put in your envelope?  Do you support charitable causes?  Could you give a dollar more a week to a cause to support someone in need?

My favorite line from this book: “Don’t let what you can’t do deter you from what you can do.”  Don’t let what you can’t do deter you from what you can.  Each of us could grow in small ways to become more generous with our time, talent and treasure.  I would encourage you, as Kelly encourages his audience, to set some generosity goals this Lent.  Make them easy but be sure to do them!

We also have a fun campaign beginning in our parishes.  This gets at being generous by cutting out an opposite in our lives—complaining.  Mother Teresa said the most deadly sin in religious life was grumbling because it showed a lack of charity towards another person or a lack of trust in God’s providence. 

We recently purchased purple bracelets (our color in Lent) with the phrase: “Thou shall not complain.”  You can pick them up as you come out of Mass.  The idea is to wear this bracelet during Lent, and if you or another person catches you complaining, you must switch the bracelet to the other wrist.  This is a simple reminder to cut out ungratitude from our lives and was one of Fr. Rich’s only good ideas.  (Was that a complaint?)

As we begin Lent I pray that you will grow in generosity, especially by giving more of your time, talent and treasure to God.  I hope that you will cut out complaining—after all, what do we have to complain about living in the USA and having Jesus in our lives?  May you have a very blessed and fruitful Lent.