Our Holy Father Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch (379-95)
2 Timothy 3:1-9; Luke 20:45-21:4
Read Luke 20:45-21:4
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
How much should we give? How much is “enough?” Approaching our faith from this point of view can be a little short-sighted considering the fact that we worship a God who gave everything for us and asks for everything of us in return. Our Lord in the gospel today commends a widow who gives such a tiny gift in comparison to many others and yet gives all her living.
The famous Christian author, CS Lewis, was so bad in his financial foresight that his friends needed to establish a charitable society to ensure he would not be taxed on his book proceeds, which he gave to the poor. His advice for “how much to give” rings even more true today with all the possibilities we have at our disposal:
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charities expenditure excludes them.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, 86
Does my giving of time, treasure and talent pinch at all? If not, it’s possible I might not be giving enough.