|The largesse of Jesus|
Largesse is a medieval word (Old French) meaning: extreme generosity, open handedness, big-heartedness, liberality, a willingness to give or spend freely and in abundance. In 13th century Catholic theology largesse was called a virtue ~ the opposite of avarice, which is selfish greed, hoarding, claiming and possessing.
Always there is the danger of forgetting and displacing this virtue-emphasis with the defending of dogmas, canon law, Church order, the application of scripture verses to other people's lives and even an obsession with sex. Those who hope to make the largesse of Jesus the centerpiece of Christianity (he always gives more than was hoped for) are often accused of going soft on morality. A struggling, weary, pained world awaits our announcement of the largesse of Jesus.
The gospels are filled with expressions of the largesse of Jesus:
Six stone water jars (each holding 20 to 30 gallons) turned into an amazing wine for the wedding that had run dry. (John 2:1-12) The largesse of Jesus!
The fellow who was lowered through the roof by his faithful friends who asked for restored legs but got all his sins forgiven too. (Luke 5:17-39) The largesse of Jesus!
The little boy's little bread and fish were used by Jesus to feed more than 5000. And they were satisfied and there were leftovers. (John 6:1-14) The largesse of Jesus!
The Jesus story of the Good Samaritan, perhaps the best known story ever told, has as its HERO a heretic loser-outcast - the one from whom you'd never expect anything good to come. (Luke 10:25-37) The largesse of Jesus!
The pierced side of Jesus at Calvary: blood came out and then water ~ EMPTY! (John 19:34) The largesse of Jesus!
Families all over the world await news of the largesse of Jesus for them!
- A mom and dad and their children ~ maybe they are refugees!
- A single mom and her children
- A single dad and his children
- A newly formed family with a step mom or step dad
- A family of children being raised by an older sibling
- A family of children being raised by a grandmother
- A family of children being raised by an aunt
- The family of parents who have taken in foster children
- The family of parents with adopted children plus their own
- The families of children shuttling back and forth between divorced parents
Then recently I met a gay woman and her partner who are raising fifteen adopted children - all of whom are thrown away, unwanted special needs kids. And I read about an older married couple who take in gay teens who have been kicked out of their homes, often by ostensibly Christian parents. These are families too.
There's a lot of generosity, good will, sacrifice and self-forgetting love in all of these families. I hope the message that pours out of the Rome Family Synod is this: "How can the Church help and support you and your unique family to grow and to be safe and healthy, productive and good? What can the Church do to help you in your daily struggles?"
Most people are working so hard just to keep things together, through the disappointments, the fatigue, the financial stresses, the fears. People need the Church to be encouraging and hopeful. People need to experience the largesse of Jesus.
The Catholic Church excels in blessing things. That means the Church celebrates the goodness of God everywhere and in just about everything. In the old ritual book of blessings there are:
- Blessings for pigs, goats and fowl
- Blessings for bees and hives
- Blessings for vineyards, tools, trains and type-writers
- Blessings for beer, cheese, butter and lard
- Blessings fire engines, oats, pastries and ashes
- Blessings for silkworms and mobile film units
- Blessings for communities suffering from mice, worms and insect invasion
- Blessings for fourteen kinds of processions
- Blessings for ten different kinds of holy water
- Blessings for eight kinds of rosaries
- Blessings for fifteen kinds of scapulars...
- But no blessing for a family.
There are priests who bless bombs, guns, tanks, submarines, warships and killer jets. There are priests who bless the homes, property, crosses, cars and graves of mafia figures. But there's no blessing for families in their variety and struggling need.
Here is the great colonnade in front of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome. You know this, don't you, they represent the mother-like arms of the Church collecting and bringing into the heart of Christ every human person - all the human family. The largesse of Jesus.