Whoa! I said WOE!!!!!

Dear Sisters & Brothers,

I'm impressed with how generous the parishioners of St. Ambrose, St. Ignatius, & St. James are. We're especially generous in times of need & to people in need.

Through your generosity our St. Vincent de Paul Society gives well over $100,000 (and closer to $125,000) to help our neighbors who can't afford their monthly staples. We're always there to pitch in when Helping Hand Ministries needs volunteers to make phone calls, deliver toys & Christmas baskets, serve meals, run & contribute unselfishly to a fund drive, or donate needed coats, food, clothing, & anything else that's needed. We completely outdid ourselves recently in our response to our sisters & brothers in Haiti. So far you have contributed probably more than $30,000 for their relief from the desperate conditions they find themselves as a result of the earthquake that hit them a month ago. We are very generous indeed.

Today I'd like to ask you to answer the question, "Why is that so important?" Do we give and volunteer just to make us feel better about us? Do we give to hear others say good things about us or to think well of us? Do we give begrudgingly or out of guilt? Why is it that we are so generous?

I'm hoping that we are so unselfish for the same reason that Jesus spoke the words of the beatitudes in the Gospel of Luke this weekend. His beatitudes are different from St. Matthews version. He has four "Blessed are you(s)", followed by four "Woe to you(s)". He says blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, & the insulted and hated. Then He says woe to the rich, the well fed, the laughing, & the well thought of. The point of His sermon was to tell His disciples to put pleasing God & serving others (especially those the world thinks are insignificant or not blessed) in front of their own needs. Only by putting God & others first in our lives will we disciples ever be really happy (or blessed).

This was completely upside down thinking when Jesus spoke it in some little Galilean field 2000 years ago. It is still upside down thinking to our ears today. But it is the honest truth.

We try to make ourselves happy by filling our lives up with stuff, luxuries, entertainment, power trips, inflated egos, & sensuality. We think that we can make our ownselves blessed, holy, & happy. Jesus' "woes" are a wake up call to us disciples. Only by completely emptying ourselves for God's sake and for the sake of others (as He was going to do for us) will we ever know what happiness & holiness is.

Is this why we are so generous? Let's keep on sacrificing of ourselves until that is the reason why we give.

Peace & Blessings,
Fr. Chuck