|
"...the rich person is not the one who has much but the one who gives much, for what we give away we keep for eternity.”
As you know, the month of November is Stewardship Month at St. Katherine, where we focus our attention more intently on the meaning of Stewardship and what it means to be a “Good Steward.”
It’s important to remember that Stewardship is not an obligation rather an opportunity to express Philotimo, a word vitally important to know because it is life changing for those comprehend it and practice it. What is it? St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain gives us the deepest expression of this word:
“Philotimo is the spontaneous, self-scarifying love shown by humble people, from whom every trace of self has been filtered out, full of gratitude towards God and their fellow men.”
“Philotimo comes from a deep, abiding connection with God, so that one is constantly moved to do and seek that which is good, right, and honorable. Out of spiritual sensitivity, such people try to repay the slightest good that others do for them.”
“Philotimo is the polished love of a humble person who does not put his/her self whatsoever into whatever he/she does, and whose heart is full of spiritual refinement, sensitivity and gratefulness to God and to his fellow human beings.”
Sadly, St. Paisios of the Holy Mountain says that Philotimo is absent in many people’s lives. He observed that “people in general don’t think of others, they don’t go beyond themselves; their thoughts constantly revolve around themselves. And when they revolve around themselves, they have themselves at the center of life, not Christ.”
Because of this many choose not to invest in anyone or anything outside of themselves, unless there is a direct benefit to them. The needs of other people, even the church are secondary to them. The offering of their time, talent or treasure is carefully measured only after they have met their needs first and are satisfied with what they have, and if there is anything left over, they may give.
In contrast to this, St. Paisios comments that “a person with Philotimo doesn’t take him/her self into account; he/she is simple and humble. Philotimo begins when a person starts to realize that they have has been generously given to them by God. In other words, they come to an awareness of their nothingness, and that without God they not only would have nothing, but they would not even have their own existence in the world.
A key component to developing Philotimo is nurturing gratitude. Today, it appears, that what is most prevalent is a spirit of entitlement, which in turn gives birth to ingratitude, or we could say, forgetfulness of what’s true in terms who we are and what we have in life. A condition such as this, this state of mind and heart, St. Paisios would say, causes a person to be lulled into a spiritual slumber, where their soul becomes like a parched land, given over to a spirit of indifference.
Philotimo is the opposite of indifference, and synonymous with Stewardship and this is what’s lacking in the Church today. Otherwise, why are so many Churches struggling to stay afloat. Of all “institutions” on the face of the earth, how is it, or why is it, that the one place where we receive the things most vital to our life and our salvation is struggling? Is it not the spirit of indifference?
Indifference is not easily detectable because it invades our soul slowly, outside our perception. Sadly, those who are indifferent suffer since they are living outside their hearts and therefore cannot truly experience the love of Christ. To compensate for this, a person will look to other people and other things to find happiness, purpose and meaning in life, but not to Christ, who is the only one who can fulfill that which we long for.
St. John Chrysostom says, “Happiness can only be achieved by transforming greed into gratitude… it is outrageous that when we enjoy God’s blessings every single day, we do not acknowledge the favor with so much as a word of thanks. Expressing gratitude confers great benefit on us. God does not need anything of ours, but we stand in need of all things from Him… Remember, the rich person is not the one who has much but the one who gives much, for what we give away we keep for eternity.”
If we could only understand this last statement, how different our lives would be!
So what’s preventing us from fully embracing this? I believe we prevent ourselves due to the fear of not having enough for ourselves, even though God has already proven His love and fidelity to us by providing us with all that we currently have.
Just as fear activates the enemy, faith activates the grace of God within us. Where there is Philotimo, there is no fear since gratitude begets faith, trust, and generosity. May we never forget this.
With love in Christ,
Fr. Timothy
|
