The First Thursday of Lent

If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him. “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. This is the law and the prophets.”

God offers us good things throughout our lives and it is up to us to accept them and imitate His generosity through our own thoughts, words, and works. He will not force us to take His gifts. If we want them, then all we have to do is have open hearts and a willingness to pass along our gifts to others just as God has done for us. This is why it is so important for us to follow Jesus’ example and do onto others as he did onto the people he met. When we do this, we manifest God’s Divine Grace to others and if their hearts are open, then they too will become more Christ-like. In this way, we weave a web of grace and support that can catch us when we fall and help us rise again.

What good things has God given us? Do we treat others as Jesus would? How do we follow Jesus’ example of giving of ourselves for the betterment of others?

O Lord, thank you for all the good things you have given us and help us to offer the goods of our lives to others in need.

Amen.