In the marketplaces of Galilee, grain was not sold in tidy, sealed bags or neat plastic packages, like what we have in the supermarkets, but they were scooped from large baskets into whatever container you brought from home. A standard measure, usually, smaller household bowl was used to fill your bags before your eyes. But how it was filled made all the difference.
A stingy merchant would pour the grain in loosely and stop when it looked full. Air pockets remained. Space was wasted. It appeared full and generous, but it was not. An honest seller, however, would press the grain down firmly with his hands. He would lift and shake the container so the kernels settled into every hidden gap. Then he would pour more on top until it formed a small mound above the rim, threatening to spill into your cloak. You went home knowing you had received more than expected.
Everyone knew the difference between a generous merchant and a stingy one. A dishonest seller would avoid pressing it down. He would leave space inside, selling appearance rather than fullness. But the generous seller made sure the measure could not hold any more. The buyer walked away not just satisfied, but grateful.
Mercy Tempers Pride
Jesus uses that image when speaking about mercy. He is essentially asking: when you “measure” other people, are you a loose-pour person or a press-it-down person? We often imagine ourselves generous, until someone scratches our car in the parking lot, or forgets our birthday, or interrupts us mid-sentence, or says something careless. Suddenly, our measuring cup shrinks dramatically. We become accountants of other people’s faults. We calculate interest. We keep emotional receipts.
A priest friend once told me about a parish council meeting that grew heated. One member stormed out, offended by something trivial. The next Sunday, the pastor said something in his homily: “Some of us are like overfilled teacups. A smallest bump and everything spills out.” The council member, later he admitted, “Father, I think my cup had more ego than tea that day.” That is the thing about mercy. It presses down pride. It shakes loose resentment. It makes room where there was only air.
There is a beautiful story from the early Church Fathers, about Abba Moses, a monk who had a violent past before his conversion. When the community gathered to judge a brother who had sinned, Moses arrived carrying a leaking sack of sand on his shoulder. As he walked, sand poured out behind him. When asked what he was doing, he replied, “My sins run out behind me, and I do not see them, yet I am coming to judge my brother.” No condemnation followed that day. That image is worth carrying through Lent.
Trust God Is Generous
We often want truckloads of understanding for ourselves and teaspoons for others. “You don’t know what I was going through,” we say. But rarely do we ask what they were going through. Our measure expands or shrinks depending on whose hands are holding the cup.
Jesus is not asking us to ignore wrongdoing. He is asking us to fill the container differently. The measure we use slowly becomes the measure we believe God uses on us. If we are tight-fisted, we imagine God as tight-fisted. If we are generous, we begin to trust that God is generous.
So this Lent, perhaps the real fast is from small measurements. Shake loose grudges. Press down kindness. Heap grace until it overflows. Because in the end, we are all standing in the same marketplace, holding out our empty bowls before God.
- Today’s Readings
- Father Boby's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
