Today's Gospel

1000 Ways to Be Generous

Welcome back to Radical & Relevant. Where each day, we're listening for a word, a phrase, or an idea, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us to the word, the phrase, the idea that he wants to use to capture our imagination with the gospel in new ways. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Luke 6:36-38. "Be merciful even as your father is merciful. Judge not, and you will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you receive." What jumps out at you today? It's a beautiful phrasing. Given it will be given to you, good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. What is it that you need or desire in good measure? What is it that you need or desire to be running over in your life? What is it that you need or desire to be placed into your lab? And are you giving whatever that thing is? Are you giving that to God? Are you giving that to other people? Are you giving that to yourself? For the measure you give will be the measure you receive. It's a challenge to our generosity. It's a challenge for us to take a look and say, "Okay, how generous it might be in all sorts of ways," right? Generosity, I think, sometimes attracts our mind toward things and money. But there are a thousand ways to be generous. You can be generous with a smile, be generous with encouragement, be generous coaching or teaching somebody to do something. You can be generous helping somebody out. You can be generous in your praise. There are so many ways to be generous. And the gospel is a message of staggering generosity. So let's get out there today and astound the world with our generosity. Have a great day, and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.

Busy is not your friend. It's time to take our lives back from the tyrant busy. That's from my new book, Slowing Down to the Speed of Joy. If you haven't had a chance to read it yet, I encourage you to pick up a copy. It's about probably one of the biggest struggles in my life, and that is to escape the insanity of busyness. In order to allow experiences to touch the very depths of our soul, we do have to slow down to the speed of joy.