In my 7 years as a parish priest, the one thing I noticed about the goodness of the Lord: God will bless those who help his Church. People who shared their time, talent, and treasure, were blessed by God abundantly. 

In one of the Gospel stories, Jesus healed a slave of the centurion because of two things: He loved Israel and He helped build the synagogue.

Since giving is the highest form of living, three things we remember when we give.

1. All that we have belongs to God. Simply put, we came into the world with nothing, we are leaving the world with nothing. Hence, everything that we have is only lent to us. When we give, we are just voluntarily returning to the Lord what is His in the first place. This is an endearing gesture to him. 
2. We reap what we sow. Anything that we do in this world, will always come back. Kindness, that we have shown?  It will come back many times – 30 fold, 60 fold, and 100 fold. 
3. God loves his Church. When Jesus was about to end his ministry, He founded the Church – “Not even the gates of the netherworld will prevail against it.” Thus, when one blesses the Church, that has a special place in God’s heart. 

May we continue to take the cue from the Centurion who was a kind and compassionate person. Certainly, the Lord hears prayers from people who are like the Centurion. Indeed, one realizes that God cannot be outdone in generosity.