Tuesday of the 8th
Week in Ordinary Time
May 26, 2015 8:30am
We use the words “giving” or
“giving up” rather often in Catholicism and in Christianity in general.
Today’s first reading is from the
Book of Sirach, one of the wisdom books of the Old Testament.
In today’s passage, Sirach
encourages us to think about how we give or give up something.
Sirach speaks of having a
generous spirit and joy in our hearts when we give or give up something.
But I think the key word in this
passage is the word sacrifice.
In this short passage, Sirach uses
the word sacrifice four times.
This word comes from two Latin
words that mean to make holy.
So, when we give or give up
something, we are to do it as a sacrifice.
And this means that we are to do
it to grow closer to the Lord and to grow in holiness ourselves, or to make it
possible for someone else or many others to do the same.
So, whenever we give our time to
assist with something, or our talent to make something happen, or our money to
enable others to do good, or whenever we give up or deny ourselves certain
things that are perfectly good in themselves, let’s make sure we are doing it
as a sacrifice.
Let’s make sure that we are doing
all of this for ourselves or for others or for both, all with the purpose of growing
closer to the Lord Jesus Christ – to become holier persons.
