This reminds me of Step Three: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” It’s a step of faith that requires radical grace. We have been confronted with our poverty and realized that we can’t surrender without God’s grace. We have an opportunity to humbly trust Saint Paul’s claim that “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more” (Romans 5:20). We are given the chance to sacrifice our convenience, our self-centeredness, and our petty concerns to God.

When we give our lives to God we receive grace in abundance. And it’s this grace we are then called to share with others as we learn in Step 11 (“Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out”) and Step 12 (“Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs”). May we humbly receive this grace and allow God to stir up the desire to express our gratitude with a life of service.

Reflection Questions

• How can you serve the poor and the less fortunate in gratitude this week by giving more than what is “reasonable”?
• Who has demonstrated a heart of abundance to you and how has this inspired you? How can you carry this into your affairs today?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: 2 Timothy 4:1-8
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 71:8-9, 14-15AB, 16-17, 22
Gospel: Mark 12:38-44

Reflection by Stephanie N.