Gospel-Homily for Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (2025)

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Generosity is Never Loss.

I always thought generosity equaled loss. You give and its gone forever. However, the Bible tells us that generosity is an investment. It is true, for example, I needed to pick up some Sheetrock, but I could not fit it inside our Honda Civic. So I reached our house in Milton to see if I could borrow the truck. There was resistance. “How long do you need it? Ok, we will make an exception this one time, I guess.” After using the truck, I filled it with gas and left a twenty-dollar bill on the driver’s seat. That night, I got a call: “Anytime you need it, it is yours.” I didn’t have to give twenty dollars, but I did, and now I have a truck whenever I need one. Generosity is an investment.

Before I entered the seminary, I used to have very thick hair. One day after work, I went for a haircut. Naturally, my hair was full of plaster dust, wood chips, and pieces of metal from a day of construction. When I sat down, I apologized to the woman who was about to cut my hair. “Sorry about my hair; I just got out of work.”  “No problem,” she assured me, “I will just use my junky scissors.”  After the cut, we went to the cash register. In those days, a haircut cost five dollars, so I took out my wallet and gave her a five-dollar bill. Then I got out another five dollars for her tip. So every time I went to the barbershop, she would say,“It’s so nice to see you, Mr. Grover. Come take a seat over here.” Well, on one occasion, my regular barber was out and there was a guy instead. I sat down and he combed out my hair before getting started. I could tell he was not happy. I said to him, “Sorry about the hair; I just got out of work. You can use your junky scissors.” He replied, “I don’t have junky scissors.” He never said a word the entire time. When he was done, I gave him his pay plus my usual tip.

Two months later, I went back to the barbershop. This time, both the woman and the guy were there and available. Not only did they both want to cut my hair, but they were fighting over me. I didn’t have to give a five-dollar tip for a five-dollar haircut, but it was an investment.

Do you recall when Jesus fed five thousand? It says that He broke the bread and did the same with the fish. Now, you would think that Jesus would have stopped, saying, I think I have just about enough to feed everyone.” No, He continued to break and multiply until he had over 12 wicker baskets left. Why does God give us more than we need? Why in the parable does God allow the farmer to grow so much that he has to build bigger storage houses? He does it so that we will have extra to invest.

Here is the faith lesson. When we have extra time, or money, or talent, or education, I want you to hear God say to you, “It’s not for you, it is for you to help people. Know this: generosity is never loss.