“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die. John 12:32-33
“The ungenerous are known as grasping and close-fisted, whereas openness is the mark of generosity. The “opened treasures” put the Magi forever among the generous [Matthew 2:11]. The valiant woman is generous: “She hath opened her hand to the poor” [Proverbs 31:20]. The world with all its goods is a mark of the generosity of God. “Thou openest Thy hand and fillest with blessing every living creature” [Psalm 145:16].
The openness is characteristic of our Lord. His hand was ever open in gifts and blessings. “Sell all thou hast and give” was His teaching and practice [Mark 10:21]. His arms were opened wide to welcome the young and innocent as well as the sinful and old. And it is with generosity as with every other virtue; His heart found special, tender ways of teaching it.
All His virtues reached their highest in the Passion, and there, too, generosity attained to perfection. “And I,” cried our Lord, “if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself” [John 12:32]. The open hands and open arms of generosity got a new meaning from the cross. He put Himself there to show that He wanted to die giving, to be fastened firmly in the action characteristic of generosity.”
Francis Patrick Donnelly in “The Generous Heart” in The Heart of Revelation (New York: P.J. Kenedy & Sons, 1917) 99-100.
Each day of Lent brings us closer to the Passion, closer to the openness of Jesus, who from the cross draws all people to Himself. Do we reflect the openness and generosity of Christ toward others? I think that we are quick to open our arms to the “young and innocent” but slow to embrace the “sinful and old” around us.
Father in heaven, as we journey to the cross, captivate our hearts with the generous openness of Jesus so that, by your Holy Spirit, our lives extend generous openness to everyone, from the young and innocent to the sinful and old. In your mercy, hear my prayer, for without such openness we cannot at all be generous.