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God's challenge: Give and you will receive

	Word to Life  Dan Luby

"It won't fit," I whined to my mother.

The five-pound bag of flour on the kitchen counter was simply too big for the canister I'd been instructed to fill. Busy as she was with the 1001 steps required for baking, she looked at me patiently.

"Yes, it will," she said. "That canister holds five pounds of flour and a little more, if you know what you're doing."

Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday, Feb. 18, 2007) 1 Samuel 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23 Psalm 103:1-4, 8, 10, 12-13 1 Corinthians 15:45-49 Luke 6:27-38

Clearly, I didn't, so she coached me.

Following her directions, I poured in flour about half way to the top, closed the canister and shook it vigorously, then lifted it slightly and let it drop a few times. Grudgingly, I saw that there was now more room but remained skeptical. When, eventually, all five pounds had been transferred safely to the canister, I was amazed despite myself.

That image of measuring ingredients for baking comes to mind when I hear Sunday's Gospel story where Jesus urges us to "give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap."

The command he gives just before this is perhaps the most daunting in the Christian Gospel: to love our enemies, to forgive our persecutors, to leave the mysterious work of judging hearts to God.

Could any challenge be more sobering? Could any command be more counterintuitive, any standard of behavior more crucifying to embrace?

For we have looked into our own capacity for forgiveness, for mercy to those who have injured us, and we are all too aware of its limits.

	Reflection questions • Who has been an example of unstinting forgiveness in your life? • What is one way you can practice the discipline of suspending judgment of others?

We shudder to think of all we have to let go of before we can be filled up: resentment, grudges, entitlement, moral superiority.

The good news is that God pledges to find room in our hearts and lives and spirits for the mercy and grace we need to become so generous, so filled with love. And God is not stingy when it comes to grace.

This column is presented in cooperation with the North Texas Catholic of Fort Worth, Texas.