more blessed to give than receive

A word from our Pope

"God becomes a man, but in order to be ignored by his contemporaries and influential forces in history ... He continually knocks in the quietest way on the doors of our hearts, and if we open ourselves to him, he slowly makes us able to ‘see’"...


"Being Christian is not a type of outfit one wears in private or on special occasions but it is living and totalizing..."


Today we continue to hear from St. PAul as he bids farewell, Acts 20:28-38.

Listen to the warning and exhortation he gives...
"Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus: 'keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy SPirit has appointed you overseers...I know after my departure savage wolves will come among you , and they will not spare the flock. And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw disciples away after them..."


We must be on the look out. THere are some things we should never tolerate and the perversion of the truth is top on that list.
Now a days, when we see people living in perversion of the truth, we simply nod our head and say, "well, whatever works for them" or "they can believe what they want."

Can they? Should they? At what point does the truth no longer become the truth? At point do we say enough is enough with opinions running wild?

Be on the look out for wolves...the bounty is high, for error and salvation do not mix well.


Also, it is in this same passage that Paul quotes Jesus, "keep in mind the words of the Lord JEsus who himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

This is the only time St. Paul directly quotes a saying from JEsus Christ. Remember the only encounter we have of Paul and JEsus is on the way to Damascus where Paul meets the resurrected Christ. But time and time again Paul describes Jesus being close to him as an intimate friend.



Nonetheless of all the quotes that JEsus is known for we should ask, why this one. Why is the one Paul chooses to leave with the community as he departs and bids farewell?

Hear the quote again, "IT is more blessed to give than to receive."

This little phrase describes the entire life Christ. This is what Christ comes to do; He comes to give. This is also a description for who God is from all eternity. God is the giver. He gives.

This also is the description that best describes what we Christians are all about. We too must focus on giving.

How often all we talk about or all we are concerned with is what we get or don't get; what we receive or don't receive. Should we not let the measure of our life be about how we sow not reap; what we give not get.

Is not our life to be measured by the cross of Christ, the one who lays down his life for his friends.

It is more blessed to give than to receive because this is the reality the christian is asked to live and embrace.