The Holy Martyr Parasceve of Iconium; The Holy Martyrs Terentius and Neonila; Our Venerable Father Stephen the Sabaite, Composer of Canons.
Colossians 1:1,2,7-11; Luke 8:1-3.
Read Luke 8:1-3
The apostles often relied on the hospitality of other Christians. They collected money and supported the needy and vulnerable in their midst. St. Paul writes how he has the right to receive wages for his work in spreading the gospel, but he refuses compensation for it from the Corinthians (see 1 Cor: 9:1-18). In his second letter to the Thessalonians, he reminds them that “we were not idle when we were with you, we did not eat any one’s bread without paying, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you. It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our conduct an example to imitate” (2 Thess. 3:7-9). Even though Paul had the right to ask for money, he wanted to be an example to others to not make ministry centered on money.
Even when Jesus traveled with His apostles, they had to consider their finances. Before Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying the bread and the fish, He asks Philip, “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?,” to which Philip replied, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” (Jn. 6:5, 7). When Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus’ feet with costly ointment, Judas Iscariot grumbled saying that the ointment could have been “sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor,” but the real reason he was grumbling was because he was in charge of their money box and used to steal from it (Jn. 12:5-6).
There were women who accompanied Jesus and the Twelve and provided for them out of their means. Even if they were not the ones preaching and healing, their ministry was crucial to supporting Jesus’ ministry. We are called to imitate their example. We are not asked to give beyond our means but to freely give from what God has freely given to us! None of our earthly possessions are truly “ours.” As God said to Adam: “Earth you are, and to earth you shall return,” we need to remember that we are dust and shall die someday, bringing nothing with us (Gen. 3:19). Let us be cheerful and generous givers, supporting the Church as well as the needy around us.