He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.

While it seems odd that a merciful and loving God would favor some people over others, our practical experience clearly points to the fact that some seem to have so much more grace in their lives than others in our world. Mary’s heavenly name is “full of grace”, and she is indeed the most favored of all human beings. But then there are some others in this world that seem to be wallowing in the mire of pain and suffering, and seem so far from His grace. But Jesus says clearly in today’s reading that God does not ration His gifts. So how do we understand this?

Pope St. John Paul II, once said (paraphrasing), that we receive grace in our lives to the extent that we first give it away. He called this the “law of the gift.” God is the source of all goodness, truth, and beauty, and He pours those things on all of us equally, like rain from above. And the extent to which any of those things exist in the world are because they ultimately come from God. So if you give love to your family, or do kindnesses to others in your community, those things ultimately come from God, but with your cooperation, flow through you.

This means that if we want to feel the gifts of God’s grace in our lives, we must first be open to God’s loving kindness, tap into that source, and then give His grace away. Let it pour out of you to everyone you know, and once you are empty, then God will fill you back up, to the point that your cup is overflowing, and the cycle starts over again.

Conversely, if you are closed off to God’s grace, and are unwilling to give it away, you will by definition be deprived of the gifts that God wants to give you because of your refusal to accept them. If you are not open to God’s grace, then grace cant flow through you, and so you will not posses it in your life. It is like pulling out an umbrella, but this umbrella deflects God’s graces.

In the Vatican II document, gaudium et spes, it says “Man discovers himself, when he makes a gift of himself.” I suggest that to be ‘full of grace’ we must first be willing to align our will with Gods will for our lives. His grace does indeed fall on us all equally. Being open to God’s grace, means letting it fall on you and ultimately flow through you. The more open to His presence in your life that you are, the more you will be filled with His grace, and filled to overflowing.

This is why Jesus says that the sinner has more right to His grace than the holy, because those that are full of grace are not in need of more of it, but the closed off are. The Lord wants all to come to Him and to be in His glory. Like the two sons in the prodigal son story, the “good” son felt slighted because he thought he was getting a smaller portion of the father’s graces than the “bad” son was getting. But that is because the bad son has so much farther to go to be back in communion with the father. The good son was already mostly there, although he did not know it. So we must not keep track of who is getting grace and who is not, we must only strive to open ourselves up to receive grace from the Father, by being of service, and giving His grace away. God does not ration it, He pours it on us all equally, if we would only accept it.

Oh lord please lord help me to dispose my will to be of service and to accept your grace by giving it away. Amen.