Man it has been a long time since I have been on here and for reason, this semester back at school has been insane! (And I thought my summer of traveling was crazy). So just a quick update on my life; finishing up my last semester of my undergraduate at Mary Washington and it is quickly coming to a close here within the next three or so weeks. From writing countless papers to hanging out with friends, to praying at the Catholic Center, my life has been such a whirlwind. I have also had the privilege to do a tiny bit of traveling this fall as well. This weekend was spent in the small town of Mansfield, Ohio where I was blessed to see one of my good friends from school get married yesterday. Such a beautiful ceremony and many blessings and prayers go out to the newly wed couple! Then, about a month ago during my fall break I was lucky to be able to go up to Pittsburgh to visit Nick (my boyfriend) was is currently working at Carnegie Mellon as a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) Missionary. After being apart from him the entire summer, it was great to be able to spend some much needed time together for a long weekend. And what a beautiful and perfect weekend it was because...WE'RE ENGAGED!!!! Yup, so in a little over six months I will be the new Mrs. Grevas. I have to say, I am so incredibly thankful for where I am at in my life, praise God!
Speaking of being thankful, it is that time of year again... the holidays! We had Halloween and more importantly All Saints and All Souls days a few weeks ago, and now we have thanksgiving to look forward to here and about a week and a half, then starts advent and right around the corner believe it or not is Christmas! So this time of year in our culture tends to be known as the season for giving; we give each other gifts for Christmas, we share food together at thanksgiving, we give food to the local food banks and toys to those children who need them. But why is it that we only focus on giving during this time of the year? What is so important about giving? When we think about giving we typically think about buying gifts for people, or giving food to those who need it, or maybe even just flat out giving money to people, to the poor box in church, or to a specific organization that touches our heart. These are all beautiful ways to give, but there are, believe it or not, more ways that we can give to others. We can give our time, our love, our prayers to others. However, no matter in what form we may give, we as humans tend to hold back just a little. We love, but we don't always love with all of our hearts, leaving a little out because we are afraid of getting hurt. We give our time to help others or to be there and listen to a friend in need, but we may be still looking at our watch or phone to check the time, rushing off to be somewhere else or hoping that something else comes up so that we can leave and not spend all day with that person or at that one event. We love to give, but we don't love to give everything that we have.
Last weekend both the first reading and the gospel were all about giving, but not just giving, fully giving all that we have. The first reading was from 1 King's 17: 10-16; the prophet Eli'jah is sent to a town by God where he meets a widow who is outside gathering sticks. He calls to her and tells her to bring him some bread. The widow responses by saying "As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a curse; and now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it and die." However, Eli'jah responses and tells her to not fear, to go and bake the bread and bring some to him and then after to make some for herself and her son, for the Lord says, "The jar of meal shall not be spent and the curse of oil shall not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth." So she went and did as he said, giving him the only bread she thought she had left for herself and her son, and when she returned to her home she found that what Eli'jah had said was true, she and her son did not go hungry. This widow had little to nothing left; she had enough to make enough bread for one last meal for herself and her son and then they would starve to death afterward, but when the prophet Eli'jah came and asked for some bread from her, and told her not to fear for God would take care of her, she literally gave him all she had left, believing that God would in fact take care of her. She gave not just a small amount of bread and kept the rest for herself and her son, she gave it all over, to Eli'jah, to God.
The Gospel reading was Mark 12: 41-44;
"As Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and watched the multitude putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came, and put in two copper coins, which makes a penny. And He called His disciples to Him and said to them, 'Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living"
While this passage is talking about giving financially, this is not the point of the teaching. Jesus makes the statement at the very end of the teaching, "but out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living." While the widow put in much money while she was poor, while she gave financially, she gave out of the kindness and love in her heart, not because she was told to, not because she wanted to be revered by others, but because she truly loves God and wants to help others. She didn't give financially, she gave her whole heart, her whole being.
These two readings are strong, powerful, and beautiful examples of giving; that we are called to give all that we have to God. For some people that is all the money they have where they truly do sell all that they have to follow Christ, such as in a religious order. Orders are called to give all they have by serving others full time such as missionaries whether they be overseas in a poor country or even in the United States. Some are called to give their whole hearts by helping those who are dying in hospice or by helping those who have special needs. No matter how we are called, we are ALL called to give, and not just give but to give with everything that we have to our Lord. Look at the best example that we have, how our Father, God, gave His one and only Son up on the cross so that we can be saved and reform our relationship that had been broken by sin with God once again. Jesus gave absolutely everything that He could, He gave His life. While we are all not called to give our lives for God, we are all called to give to Him. This holiday season as the 'spirit of giving' is in the air, think about how you can give, not just to others, not just this time of year, but to give every single day to God. How can we give everything that we have to Him?
Tis always the season for giving, giving fully to God.
