“It is in giving that we receive.” St. Francis
It takes a lot of grace and
spiritual discipline to give to others when you yourself are experiencing pain
be it physical or emotional.
Pain naturally makes us think
of ourselves and long for someone to care for our own needs, but Jesus tells us
“It’s more blessed to give than receive.”
When we move beyond just the
focus of self and give to others we receive a blessing, perhaps it brings us
out of our pain for a moment to experience an act of love and charity. Selfless-Love
is the ultimate healing balm.
Even, in his agony on the cross,
Jesus reached out to others. He promised
paradise to a dying thief, and he gave his grieving mother another son to
provide for her needs.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.
