Q. I find myself being less-than-generous quite often. I want to have a better attitude, but people keep wanting things from me: They want my time, my help and my financial support. How do I get better at being generous?
We are accustomed to thinking of our Catholic religion as the “fulfillment” of the Judaism that came before it, and rightly so. But it would be a one-sided interpretation of the idea of “fulfillment” to mean by it simply “superiority” with respect to Judaism. In a very real sense Christianity is in fact a different religion from Judaism as it was practiced in the time of Jesus.
Last weekend’s readings marked both the first Sunday in Ordinary Time and the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, concluding the celebration of Christmastide. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, that the Gospel for this Sunday is not taken from Matthew and also recounts John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus in the Gospel of John. Nevertheless the first reading, psalm and Gospel assigned for this weekend all invite us to consider what it means to be the Servant of God.
Gifts are a big part of Christmas. We shop for gifts, give gifts and look forward to receiving gifts. The practice of gift giving at Christmastime finds its origins in the Magi who brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the infant Jesus (Mt 2:11); and in St. Nicholas, who gave his wealth to the poor, food to the hungry, encouragement to prisoners and three separate gifts of gold to a father to pay the dowry for his three daughters. The single greatest gift of Christmas is Jesus himself, the gift of the Father to the human race.