generosity

³⁵I have revealed all things to you, because by laboring in this way, it is necessary to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

³⁸Give, and it will be given to you: a good measure, pressed down and shaken together and overflowing, they will place upon your lap. Certainly, the same measure that you use to measure out, will be used to measure back to you again.”

²⁴Some distribute their own goods, and they become wealthier. Others seize what is not their own, and they are always in need. ²⁵The soul that blesses shall be made fat. And whoever inebriates will likewise be inebriated himself.

¹⁷Whoever is merciful to the poor lends to the Lord. And he will repay him for his efforts.

¹And looking around, he saw the wealthy putting their donations into the offertory. ²Then he also saw a certain widow, a pauper, putting in two small brass coins. ³And he said: “Truly, I say to you, that this poor widow has put in more than all the others. ⁴For all these, out of their abundance, have added to the gifts for God. But she, out of what she needed, has put in all that she had to live on.”

²¹For where your treasure is, there also is your heart.

⁷each one giving, just as he has determined in his heart, neither out of sadness, nor out of obligation. For God loves a cheerful giver.

⁶But I say this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. And whoever sows with blessings shall also reap from blessings:

¹⁷Instruct the wealthy of this age not to have a superior attitude, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who offers us everything in abundance to enjoy, ¹⁸and to do good, to become rich in good works, to donate readily, to share, ¹⁹to gather for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may obtain true life.

⁴²And whoever shall give, even to one of the least of these, a cup of cold water to drink, solely in the name of a disciple: Amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.”

¹⁷Whoever possesses the goods of this world, and sees his brother to be in need, and yet closes his heart to him: in what way does the love of God abide in him?

⁹Whoever is inclined to mercy shall be blessed, for from his bread he has given to the poor. Whoever gives gifts will acquire victory and honor. But he carries away the soul of the receiver.

¹³Whoever blocks his ears to the outcry of the poor shall also cry out himself, and he will not be heeded.

⁵Pleasing is the man who shows mercy and lends. He will order his words with judgment.

²⁵The soul that blesses shall be made fat. And whoever inebriates will likewise be inebriated himself.