When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,
“Gather the fragments left over,
so that nothing will be wasted.”
So they collected them,
and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments
from the five barley loaves
that had been more than they could eat.
Generosity is a virtue to be admired. We all know generous persons from our experience who never count the cost, who are always ready to lend a helping hand no matter how inconvenient it might be.
This past week, we read about the extraordinary generosity of Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, who gave $ 100 million each to CNN contributor, Van Jones, and chef José Andres. The gift was given with no strings attached and in recognition of both Jones and Andres work as ‘unifiers and not villifiers’ in our world today. Both men are known for trying to bring people together in understanding. In a politically fractured world, Jones attempts to bring reconciliation and healing. In a world of unexpected disasters, chef Andres brings food to those whose lives have been turned upside down through earthquakes and hurricanes.
My friends, the familiar story today, taken from John’s Gospel, tells of the miraculous feeding of the multitudes who came to hear the good news of the Lord. Like sheep without a shepherd, the Lord in his unfailing mercy, love and generosity, transformed the few loaves and fishes to feed the multitude with leftovers to spare!
These stories cannot but challenge us to examine our own lives through the prism of generosity. Lurking within the underbelly of our society and culture is a rampant narcissism that was sadly exacerbated by our last President. Narcissism is the antithesis of generosity. For the narcissist, everything pathologically revolves around the mantra, What’s in it for ME? For the narcissist, generosity is for the naïve, suckers and losers.
As Christians, we glory in a God of generosity – a God who in his Son, Jesus, is prodigal in his mercy and forgiveness. No wonder then, that St. Paul urges us today to emulate the virtues of a generous God as we strive to be humble, gentle and patient with one another for the sake of the solidarity and unity to which we are called as the Body of Christ.
In the end, the spiritual antidote for narcissism is generosity that is rich in mercy, kindness and forgiveness.