The gift of my grandmother and our shared birthday week

A Reflection for Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Find today’s readings here.

Today is my grandmother’s 84th birthday. Yesterday was my 23rd. When I was growing up, she would tell me it was the best early birthday gift ever when I was born.

As a kid, I was skeptical. Surely having to share your birthday week with another family member would be horrible. Maybe I was projecting (I was definitely projecting), but I thought that the closeness of the dates would make each occasion less special. Everyone would be all birthdayed-out from celebrating me—probably at an awesome trampoline park or arcade—leaving my poor nanny out to dry. 

Conversely, I couldn’t milk my birthday week past a single day as the next celebration would get underway seemingly right after I blew out my candles. (Disclaimer for my parents: I know that I have nothing to complain about in terms of my birthday celebrations; these were the delusional musings of an eight-year-old.)

In today’s Gospel, Jesus compares the generosity of a father to a son to the generosity of God to all of us. Indeed, we might see the generosity that Jesus refers to not just in our fathers but in our parents, grandparents, teachers, mentors, etc. We have all been the beneficiaries of the grace and goodness of others, even sometimes when we have not deserved it (for instance, as a selfish eight-year-old).

Receiving the generosity of others, especially from those whom we look up to or who are responsible for us, is immensely humbling and powerful. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, but when my nanny happily attended my birthday parties—sometimes coming to visit for a period during which her birthday would also fall—and still chose to put the spotlight on me, it was an example of the selfless generosity Jesus evokes in the Gospel. 

For my nanny, sharing the occasion did not make her own day any less special. Just as Jesus’s love is multiplicative, my nanny’s selfless sharing of her day with me was like “a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season” (Psalm 1:3). I hope to one day pay her example forward.

What is even more amazing is what Jesus shares after recalling the beautiful generosity of parents to their children. Noting that even imperfect humans will give good gifts to their children, he says, “how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” (Luke 11:13).

Think of the greatest kindness, the greatest mercy ever shown by a parent or superior. Jesus tells us that God’s love and generosity will be even greater. That we may emulate God in extending similar generosity to others is just the icing on the birthday cake.

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