GIFTED, GRACED AND GRATEFUL?
We live surrounded by an engulfing sea of self-admiration, self-entitlement, and self-centeredness. So claim two prominent psychologists, Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell in their recent book, The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in an Age of Entitlement (2009).
The data the authors present are as compelling as they are appalling. But, in a sense, they are also reassuring. They confirm my personal impressions, having been an educator for almost 34 years. One sign of this malady of self-entitlement is for young people to take everything for granted, to imagine that the world owes them what is given them.
We all can guess what this means. Hardly anyone now gives thanks. Gratefulness that springs from an acknowledgment that something is given gratis et amore, freely and with love, is harder and harder to come by nowadays. Interestingly, being grateful has to do with giving back “grace upon grace.” For something given “gratis,” one “does” graces in return (gratias agere, in Latin). It is related to mirroring, to giving kind for kind, doing like for like, and being exactly like the gracious giver.
There is only one exception to this “tit-for-tat” that the Gospel today reminds us of: never rendering evil for evil, never repaying bad deeds with equally bad behavior. Yes, the Lord tells us to give back, but give nothing in return but love, even for enemies who absolutely do not wish us well.
Being no spring chicken anymore, I must tell my readers that it is mighty difficult to love those who don’t love us and even do harm to us. I know. And I have reported to you at some other reflections in the past a little of what it means to be unfairly treated, courtesy of influential persons who wished me harm. But I must tell you, too, that in this age of self-admiration and overflowing self-conceit, it gets doubly harder.
The Lord’s words today would have us take the proverbial extra mile — and more! He reminds us that we are gifted and graced from above, and all that calls for gratefulness in return! Fr. Chito Dimaranan, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: What motivates your giving?
Lord Jesus, teach me to give from the heart — and also to receive with gratefulness in my heart.
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