SIMPLE + DAPAT = SAPAT

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October 22, 2017
29th Sunday in Ordinary Time

First reading (Isaiah 45:1, 4-6)
Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 96: 1, 3-5, 7-10)
Second reading (1 Thessalonians 1:1-5B)
Gospel (Matthew 22:15-21)

We give. That's good. We give ourselves a treat for our sacrifices and effort. We give our friends and families our concern and time. We give God our sorrows and joys. We give and there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing much special in it either. In our gospel for this Sunday (29th in Ordinary Time), we may see how we may make our GIVING more meaningful. We hear of the Pharisees testing Jesus on the lawfulness of paying taxes to Caesar.

Giving doesn't have to be extravagant or attention-seeking. Giving just needs to be SIMPLE. Don't get me wrong though. Simplicity doesn'tmean "mediocrity". Simplicity in giving doesn't mean giving a "pwede na" effort for someone or to a task. When God calls he does so simply. When God created us, He didn't only say "pwede na" or it was "okay", instead He said it was "good". That is the call to simplicity -to give not only for the sake of giving or not only for show, but because it is good. Jesus saw the malice in the question of the Pharisees, so He educated them by asking whose image it was on the coin to be paid as tax. Jesus did not answer for the sake of answering or defending himself. He answered to teach them. When the last time we gave not for compliance but because it is good to give?

Giving doesn't just mean giving randomly. The minimum of giving is to give justly. Give what is DAPAT, what is just. Have you received a gift? Give thanks to the giver, because it is DAPAT to be grateful. Did God answer your prayer? Offer something else in return. That is the least you can give God. That is the minimum. Jesus said "repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God." When was the last time we put thought in our giving -giving what should be given to the right person?

When how we give becomes SIMPLE (because it is good to give) and DAPAT (the right thing to the right person), we would realize that we are already growing in giving SAPAT. Sapat is giving enough, but what is "enough"? It has its minimum in SIMPLE, giving more than "pwede na", and DAPAT, giving what is right to the right person, and more. Enough is when we are wiser in giving. It is when we give more than just because it is good. It is when we give more than what we believe others deserve. Have we started in giving SAPAT?

We give ourselves treats, but do we give ourselves friends and better relations with others? We give our concern and time to our friends and families, but do we give them understanding? Do we extend them to those who are not within our circle of friends? We give God our joys and sorrows, but do we offer Him ourselves?  

Let us learn to be smart and generous in our giving, just as God is the same to us. Only in doing so may we make our giving a little more special.

#SundayReflection
#29thSundayOT

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