Faces of Generosity
We have been exploring the fruits of the Holy Spirit this year in NC Catholics. In this issue we examine generosity. I think it is easy in our culture to focus primarily on money when we think about the word generosity. Certainly people can be financially generous. For example, the Catholics of the Diocese of Raleigh were very generous in this year’s Bishop’s Annual Appeal. Through your generous pledges of $5.8 million dollars, many programs in the diocese will be able to offer services to the People of God throughout the eastern half of North Carolina. I am grateful for your generosity.
But there is something more foundational about the particular fruit of the Holy Spirit we call generosity that bears further reflection. First we must understand that the Holy Spirit is present to us at all times. We believe that if we allow the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, our lives will bear good fruit. One of those fruits is generosity. It is a gift from God, who is the epitome of generosity. Look at the universe God has created, the marvel of a human being, and the beauty of creation all around us. These are only some of the ways we see God’s generosity. Of course, the most generous gift of God is the His Son, Jesus Christ, who poured out His entire life for the redemption of the world through His Passion, death, and Resurrection. When we act on our spiritual disposition towards generosity, we become a reflection of our God in whose image and likeness we have been created and our Savior who gave His life so that all might live forever.
Generosity is offering one’s own gifts, goods, even one’s being to others. In April, Raleigh Catholic Parish Outreach celebrated its 30th anniversary. This organization of Raleigh area parishes has been feeding and clothing the needy without interruption for 30 years and has become the largest food pantry in the Triangle, with over 250 parish volunteers serving the poor. This is generosity at work.
This month two men, Anthony DeCandia and Marco González, will offer their lives in generous service to the People of God in the Diocese of Raleigh through ordination to the Priesthood. At the end of the month, Romen Acero and Michael Spurr will offer their lives in generous service to the diocese when they are ordained to the transitional diaconate. The lives of these four men will be consecrated to God in an act of generosity so that all who live in the diocese may receive abundant spiritual fruit in their own lives. I rejoice for their generosity and pray each day that other men will come forward in generous service to the Church as priests. I also pray that many more men and women will hear and respond to the Lord’s call to serve the Church as vowed religious.
Each and every day you make countless sacrifices to respond faithfully and generously to your particular vocation in life. Be assured that when we offer our lives in service to God, He will produce fruit abundantly in and through us. May the Lord grant you continued perseverance and allow the generosity of your lives to inspire others.
May Mary, who gave her whole life generously to God, watch over and protect you always.
Most Reverend Michael F. Burbidge