Word of life

For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have in abundance; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

These words of Jesus are so important that they are found twice in Matthew's Gospel (13:12 and 25:29). They show clearly that God's 'economics' are not like ours. His calculations are always different from ours like,for example, when he gave the worker of the eleventh hour the same pay as the worker of the first (cf. Matt. 20: 1-16).

Jesus said these words in reply to the disciples who asked him why he spoke to them clearly while he spoke to others in parables and in a veiled way. Jesus gave his disciples the fullness of truth and light, precisely because they were following him, because he was everything for them. Jesus gave himself fully to those who had opened their hearts to him, who were completely ready to welcome him, to those who already had Jesus.

To understand his way of acting it may be useful to remember another similar Word that is found in Luke's Gospel: "Give and there will be gifts for you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing will be poured into your lap" (Luke 6:38). In these two sentences from the Gospel, according to Jesus' logic, having (for to those who have will be given) is the same as giving (those who give will receive).

I am sure that you too have experienced this Gospel truth. When you helped a sick person, when you consoled someone who was sad, when you were close to someone who felt alone, did you not sometimes experience joy and peace, not knowing where they came from? It is the logic of love. The more someone gives of himself, the more he is enriched.

So we could now read this month's Word of Life as follows: to those who have love, to those who live in love, God gives the capacity to love even more; he gives the fullness of love to the point of enabling them to become like him who is Love.

For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have in abundance; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 

Yes, it is love that makes us be. We exist because we love. If we did not love, and all the times that we do not love, we are not, we do not exist ("even what they have will be taken from them").

So we must do nothing other than love, without sparing ourselves. Only in this way will God give Himself to us and with Him will come the fullness of His gifts.

Let's give in a practical way to those around us, being sure that by giving to them we are giving to God. Let's give always; let's give a smile, understanding, forgiveness, a listening ear. Let's give our intelligence, our availability. Let's give our time, our talents, our ideas, our activity. Let's give experiences, abilities and goods to share with others, so that nothing accumulates and everything circulates.

Our giving opens the hands of God who, in His providence, fills us superabundantly, so as to give again, and give much, and to receive once more, and so be able to meet the immense needs of many.

For anyone who has will be given more, and he will have in abundance; but from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 

The greatest gift that Jesus wants to give us is his own self. He wants to be in our midst always. This is the fullness of life, the abundance with which he wants to fill us. Jesus gives himself to his disciples when they follow him in unity.

So this Word of Life also reminds us of the communitarian dimension of our spirituality. We could read it like this: to those who have mutual love, to those who live unity, will be given the presence of Jesus himself in their midst.

And we will be given even more. Those who have, that is, those who have lived in love and therefore have received the hundredfold in this life, will be also given, in addition, the prize which is Paradise. And it will be given abundantly.

In contrast, those who do not have, that is, those who have not received the hundredfold, because they did not live in love, will not in future enjoy even the good things in their lives and the goods they had (relatives, possessions) on earth, because in hell there will be only torment.

Let's love then. Let's love everybody. Let's love so much that the others love in return and love will become mutual; then we will have the fullness of life.