A nd this –
the one who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly
and the one who sows generously will also reap generously.
Each person – as they have decided in their heart,
not from reluctance or from compulsion
for God loves a cheerful giver.¹
God can make all grace abound to you
so that always in every way
having everything necessary
you may abound in every good work.
As it is written:
He scattered, he gave to the needy
his righteousness remains for ever²

Now the one who supplies
the seed to the sower
and bread for food³
will also supply and increase your (store of) seed
and enlarge the harvest from your righteousness⁴
-in every way being enriched for all generosity
which produces
through us
thanksgiving to God.

1. Proverbs 28:8a ↩︎
2. Psalm 112:9 ↩︎
3. Isaiah 55:10 ↩︎
4. Hosea 10:12 ↩︎

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that thou art –
Thou my best thought, by day or by night;
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

For about the ministry
to the saints
it is unnecessary for me to write to you all.
For I know your eagerness
(such that) I boast about you to the Macedonians
that Archaia has been ready
since last year
and your zeal has stirred up most of them
I have sent the brothers,
so that our boasting about you
might not prove to be empty
in this matter
so that just as I said
you would be ready
Lest somehow
– (any) Macedonians might come with me
and find you unprepared –
we would be put to shame
not to mention you
in that situation.
So I considered it necessary to urge the brothers
to go before (me) to you
and to prepare in advance your promised generous-gift
so that this (generous-gift) will be ready
as a gift
and not as a grudging obligation.

Be thou a bright flame before me,
Be thou a guiding star above me
Be thou a smooth path below me
Be thou a kindly shepherd behind me
Today – tonight -forever
Amen.

St Columba

But thanks be (grace) to God
who gave the same earnestness
for you (as I have)
into Titus’s heart:
for he received our appeal
more earnestly
and he is coming
by his own choice
to you.
I have sent along with him the brother
whose praise
in respect of the gospel
(is) in all the churches
And not only (this)
but also (he has been) appointed
throughout all the churches
as our travelling companion
with this grace (gift)
which is administered by us
– for the glory of the Lord
– and (to show) our eagerness (to help)
We have put in this precaution
lest anyone find fault
in this generous amount
administered by us.
For we have in mind (what is) good (i.e. honest),
not only before the Lord
but also before people.
We have sent along with them
our brother
who we have tested
often in many situations
to be earnest
and now even more earnest
because of his great confidence in you.
As for Titus,
(he is) my partner and fellow worker with you,
as for
our brothers
(they are ) messengers of the churches,
(to the?) glory of Christ.
Therefore show them proof
of your love
and of our boasting about you
before the churches.

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

And
I am giving this opinion:
for it is better for you –
who began earlier
not only to do this
but also to want to do it
since last year
but now also
complete the work
so that just as the eager desire
so also the completion
according to what you have.
For if the eagerness is present
according to what one has
is acceptable
Not as what one does not have.
Not that there should be relief for others
but hardship for you
but as a matter for equality
For at this time
your abundance goes towards their lack
so that some day their abundance will go towards your lack
As it is written:
The one who had much did not have too much
and the one who had little did not have too little.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

But
as in all things you excel:
in faith and
in speech and
in knowledge and
in all eagerness and
in the love from us in you
so excel also in this grace
 
Not as a command
I am saying (this),
 but as testing
by means of the earnestness of others
the genuineness of your love.
 
For you know
the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ,
that because of you
he became poor
being rich
so that
by his poverty
you might become rich

Grant, Lord,
that we may hold to you without parting,
worship you without wearying,
serve you without failing;
faithfully seek you,
happily find you,
and forever possess you,
the only God,blessed now and for ever.
Amen

St Anselm

So we want you to know
brothers/sisters
about the grace of God,
which has been given
to the churches of Macedonia
how in a great ordeal of affliction
their abundance of joy
and their extreme poverty
overflowed
in the riches of generosity.
For according to their power
I bear witness
and beyond their power
of their own choice
with much encouragement
they begged us for the grace
of sharing the ministry for the saints
and not (giving) just as we hoped
but they gave themselves
first to the Lord
and to us,
by the will of God,
So we urged Titus
that just as he had begun
so also he should complete
among you
this grace.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

Above our comfort /consolation
more than ever
we rejoiced still more
at the joy of Titus,
because his spirit had been refreshed
by all of you.
Because if I had boasted (about) something
to him
about you
I have not been disappointed.
But as
in truth
I have spoken everything
So also our boasting
to Titus
became true
and his affection
for you all
is greater
as he remembers
the obedience of you all
how you received him
with fear and trembling
I rejoice
because I have complete confidence
in you all.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen

For godly grief
produces repentance
that leads to salvation
without-regret,
but worldly grief
produces death.
For look!,
how much devotion
this very thing,
this godly grieving,
has produced in you,
but
what a desire-to-clear-yourselves
what indignation
what fear
what longing
what zeal,
what justice!
In all ways you have demonstrated yourselves innocent
in this matter
So even I wrote to you all
it was not (so much) because of the one who did wrong
or (or so much) because of the one who was wronged
but because (in order that) your devotion for us
might be made known to you before God.
Because of this we have been comforted.

O Lord Jesus Christ,
stay beside me to defend me,
within me to guide me,
before me to lead me,
and above me to bless me,
that with you and in you,
I may live, and move and have my being,
for ever and ever.
Amen.

(unknown)

F -or even
if I grieved you by my letter,
I do not regret (it).
– although I did regret (it)
(for I see that in that letter
I grieved you
for a time)
– now I rejoice
not because you were grieved
(but because) you were grieved resulting in repentance
For you were grieved according to God(‘s will)
so that in no way would you suffer harm because of us.

Eternal God and Father,
you create us by your power,
and redeem us by your love,
guide and strengthen us by your Spirit,
that we may give ourselves in love and service
to one another and to you;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

For even
having come to Macedonia
we (our flesh) had no relief
but we were troubled in every way.
– battles outside
– fears inside.
But the one who comforts the downhearted-
God
– he comforted us
by the arrival of Titus
and not only in his arrival
but also by the comfort
by which he was comforted by you all,
he told us of
your longing,
your sorrow,
your concern for me
so that I rejoiced even more.

O Lord, in whom is our hope,
remove far from us, we pray thee,
empty hopes and presumptuous confidence.
Make our hearts so right with thy most holy and loving heart,
that hoping in thee we may do good;
until that day when faith and hope
shall be abolished by sight and possession,
and love shall be all in all.

Christina Rossetti (1830-94)