Have you ever experienced the bounty of a generous person? Somebody who gave in an overflowing way, somebody whom you sensed wanted the best for you — and was willing to back that up with whatever time and talent he or she had?

Each of us, I imagine, can recall somebody who at least bordered on this, who was open hearted, their heart always open to you.

I’d ask you to bring such a person into your imagination and use him or her as a window through which to view Jesus and His Father. This is the Parent whom Jesus describes as “All Merciful” (Lk 6:36) And then there’s Jesus himself whose middle name could well be “Generosity.”

Or perhaps as that lens, take on a member of our Vincentian Family. Look at our God through the prism of the life of a Mother Seton or Frederic Ozanam or of Vincent and Louise themselves. Gazing through it, what about the Trinitarian God comes into clearer focus for you?

Approach the two of them, Father and Son, now peering at them now through the prisms of the generosity of those select individuals.  Let your encounter with this person’s large heartedness reveal even a slight glimpse of the boundless kindness and compassion that are always flowing from Jesus and his merciful Father.