In today’s second reading, St. Paul offers the community at Corinth a spirituality of giving. He urges them to give and maintains that through their generosity, they will in turn be given in return much spiritual abundance. They will receive from those who are the beneficiaries of their own giving; a reciprocal gift that amounts to an equality of giving, made possible through the generous mediation of Christ himself. This is an excellent reading for reflecting on the spirituality of giving. This week, take time to reflect on the ways you might discover a deeper joy in Jesus Christ because of your own generosity toward others.

In today’s Gospel reading we hear Jesus commanding the wind and sea to be at peace, to be still. The Gospel scene depicting Jesus and his disciples on a boat seems appropriate for the summer. It is a season to contemplate nature and to find God in the wonders of His creation. It is also a time to contemplate, as stewards of the Lord’s abundant gifts, all of creation as God’s gift and that ultimately it is God who has control over the world and not us.