Dear Parishioners:
Sometimes people think that if something could change. "Maybe if I won the lottery?" or "If only Uncle Mike would die and leave me a lot of money I could ..." and other such matters.
I think we are sincere when we conjure up thoughts like these. And there is probably no danger in thinking these thoughts as long as they don't get carried away.
But outside events will not change us. We are the persons we are and no matter what happens outside of us cannot change what is on the inside. If I am not a generous man, winning the lottery will not make me a generous man. If I am a coward, danger will evoke bravery from me.
The kind of man or woman any of us is, depends not on what happens outside of us, but what happens inside of us. Generosity is a virtue which one lives with whatever one's means are. St. Thomas writes, "In like manner nothing prevents a virtuous man from being liberal (i.e. generous), although he be poor." Hence the Philosopher says (Ethic. iv.1): Liberality (Generosity) is proportionate to any man's substance, i.e., his means, for it consists not in the quantity given, but in the habit of the giver, and Ambrose says (De Offic.i) that it is the heart that makes a gift rich or poor, and gives things their value. (Iia Iiae 117 Art. 1).
We need to build the habit (virtue) of generosity in our hearts. Our external means will not make a real difference because they cannot make or break our heart. St. Augustine writes beautifully about Joseph's generosity towards his brothers when they came to him for aid, "... when he wants to be recognized by them, he shows them the most tender affection together with a sorrowful compassion. ... He never recalls the cistern in which they had cast him... Rather he returns good for evil, thus anticipating the law of the Gospel and conforming to it...."
We must cultivate this virtue to protect us from its opposite, envy. Augustine continues about this vice, "What a terrible disease of the soul, virus of the mind, and dreadful corrosion of the heart it is to envy the gifts of God possessed by one's brother, to turn into one's own misfortune the riches possessed by another, to torment oneself by the success of others.... To people of this kind, all food is insipid and no drink can be satisfying. Their soul is filled with constant craving, grieving, and suffering; day and night their heart is continually obsessed, for jealousy has no end, remaining ever evil and sin without end ..."
Let us pray to be generous, i.e. of noble birth, the priestly, kingly people of the Lord. It is our birth right.
Fr. Bill
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