Daniel 9:4-10
Luke 6:36-38
Today in the first reading from Daniel the prophet looks back over Israel’s covenant relationship. He fully acknowledges that Israel has strayed far from God and to them ‘the look of shame belongs.’ Israel is now completely dependent on God’s mercy.
In the Gospel today Jesus invites his disciples to ‘be compassionate as your father is compassionate.’ The love and mercy which is the essence of God in Daniel’s prayer is here held up for our imitation. We learn to be compassionate by expanding our hearts and our perceptions. We learn to be compassionate by being generous with all we have and are.
Give, and there will be gifts for you: a full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap; because the amount you measure out is the amount you will be given back.
I have spent much of my monastic life as the monastery cellarer and I have learnt the importance of how I measure. In the monastic kitchen you are always making substitutes and adjustments. St Benedict is clear in his Rule that it is one of the cellarer’s jobs to make sure that there is enough for everyone. He evens goes to the trouble of instructing the cellarer to divide each monk’s portion of bread (a pound) so that it is spread out over the mealtimes.
And then we come to love. How easy it is for me to measure my love. Weighing things out to the last gram. The Gospel challenge for me today is to be the one who gives first and to that hope my full measure will run over.
Where is Christ calling you to give a full measure?