Called to be a Gift-Giving People.

My topic today will be gift giving and I wish to look at the gifts that God has given to us and the gift giving that we can do.

I will begin with the gifts of creation.  Saint Francis has shown us how to see that all the elements of creation are gifts from God.  The sun, the moon, the stars, the earth, the sparrows, the cows, the rabbits, the pheasants, the cicadas, the honeybees, and even the famous wolf in his hometown.  Every thing is a gift from God.  And it is also true that every person is a gift from God.  We support that belief with our Respect for Life ethics. 

We believe in the dignity of every person beginning with their time in the womb and continuing to their time of natural death.  Dignity is a key word for us.  We believe in the dignity of every person.  Every person is a gift from God.  Psalm 127 says that children are gifts from God.  

The next gift from God is the most important gift: the gift of forgiveness.  That means that our sins are forgiven; not because we deserve it but because God is kind and merciful.  

Now I would like to look at two stories in which people are channels of the gift of forgiveness.  Today’s Second Reading says that we should be channels of God’s grace to others.  In the Book of Genesis, we have the story of Joseph.  Reuben and his brothers tried to kill him by throwing him into a well so that he would starve to death.  Their plan failed because Judah pulled him out of the well and sold him to the Midianite merchants.  The Midianites were carrying the healing oil, the balm of Gilead, from Gilead to Egypt.  

When they reached Egypt, they sold Joseph to captain of the palace guards.  Joseph moved up the ranks and was placed in charge of the distribution of wheat.  Then there was a great famine in his homeland and his brothers were starving and they came to Egypt to buy some wheat.  At this point Joseph could have said to his brothers, “You tried to kill me by starving me.  Now go home and starve to death.”  But No, He did not believe in revenge.  He did not believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.  Joseph forgave his brothers and he told them, “God sent me to forgive your wicked deed.”  Thus, Joseph was a channel for God’s gift of forgiveness.

On May 4, 1998, Pastor William Willimon paid a visit to Marcie Engstrom.  Marcie lives in Yorktown, Virginia and she was grieving because her son was killed by members of a street gang in her hometown.  She said that she prays for them every day.  She also said, “I don’t understand why I don’t hate them.  I guess God has given me a forgiving heart.”  Those were her exact words.  “God has given me a forgiving heart.”  She was a channel for God’s gift of forgiveness.

Those words echo the basic message of the Gospel: Jesus has a forgiving heart.  He forgave the repentant thief and he forgave the soldiers who nailed him to the cross.  Yes, Jesus has a forgiving heart.  Our faith tells us that He is the king of forgiveness.  Not the king of a nation - but the king of forgiveness.

Now I would like to say something another gift…the gift of healing touch.  The Gospels reveal to us that healing touch was a gift that Jesus gave to many people.  Time after time Jesus combined His caring words with his healing touch.  Jesus touched the leper and the blind man. He touched the dying girl and the suffering woman in today’s Gospel.  He touched the disciples when they were filled with fear after his transfiguration.  He blessed children by laying hands on them. He used his hands to wash the dirty feet of His disciples.  And He is calling us to do as He did.  I am speaking about healthy touch.  Such as a pat on the back, a handshake, a High-Five, a fist bump, and joining hands in prayer during the Mass, during family prayer time, during Bible Study and so on.  

Although our touch might not cure the sick or heal the blind or raise the dead, it still has enormous power.  What I call non-verbal power.  The power that comes from being connected to another human being.  The power that becomes a healing touch.  And that is a gift that we can give to others.

I will close with this summary.  God is a gift-giving person and He calls us to be gift-giving persons and He gives us the grace that we need to do so.