God cannot be outdone in generosity

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT’S right! The more generous we are with God and with others, the more generous God will be with us. This is just a simple law of ‘we reap what we sow.’ We usually sow just a seed, but with the generosity with which we take care of that seed, we are bound to get a lot of fruit.

This truth of our faith is highlighted in that gospel parable about a nobleman who went off to a distant country to obtain the kingship, leaving his ten servants with ten gold coins with the instruction to engage in trade until he returns. (cfr. Lk 19,11-28)

He was happy with those who carried out the instruction and gave them charge of big cities. “Well done, good servant! You have been faithful in this very small matter; take charge of ten cities,” he said. He punished the servant who did nothing with the gold coin.

Later on, he told the servants that the gold coin of the servant who did nothing with it be given to the one who gained ten more with his trading. When the other servants commented that this productive servant already had ten gold coins, the nobleman who personifies God said: “To everyone who has, more will be given, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

All this only shows that we are meant to be fruitful and productive with what God has given us and that we would be receiving more graces and blessings the more fruitful and productive we are with all the gifts God has given us.

Every day, we should be keenly aware that we need to be fruitful and productive. That’s simply because even from the beginning of our creation in Adam and Eve, this has always been God’s will for us.

“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it,” (Gen 1,28) God told our first parents, clearly outlining his mandate to them. It’s a mandate that continues to be repeated up to now.

That should be fair enough. If one is given a lot of gifts, blessings, privileges, opportunities, etc, then a lot should also be expected of him. Christ himself said so. “Much will be required of the persons entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.” (Lk 12,48)

He reiterates the same idea a number of times in the parable of the talents, the parable of the seed, the tenants in the vineyard, and the different images he taught about the Kingdom of God. Even on the basis of common sense alone, that idea should be a given.

We have always been taught to trade with our talents, to make the most of what is given and entrusted to us, to be generous in the way we spend our life. Our life here on earth, after all, is a test of love, the real love, which is love for God and others, and never just self-love.

We have been repeatedly assured that if we are generous with God and with others, we will also be the object of a greater generosity from God and from others as well.

Christ said so. “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.” (Mt 19,29) Yes, God cannot be outdone in generosity.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com