“What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered.” St. Thomas of Villanova (1486-1555)

 

St. Paul reminds us, “What do you possess that you have not received? But if you have received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7) Everything we have has been given to us. Even what we worked for comes from abilities and talents received from God. Knowing this enables us to approach situations from God’s perspective. We give because we have been given. The more I give in gratitude and out of a debt to God, the more I will receive in return. In another place St. Paul tells us, “For God loves a cheerful giver.

Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work.” (2 Corinthians 9:7-8) With so little, we gain so much.