Dr. Carolyn Y. Woo writes that getting older has the benefit of letting time and experience help us better understand certain things that puzzled us earlier. “Today’s Gospel used to trouble me in the way it seems to set a condition for God’s unconditional love and boundless mercy. Worse is that the condition is us: our own capacity to forgive and give to others. We all know how limited that is. From an unlikely place, I picked up an insight that helped me approach these three verses differently. In management literature, there is a concept called absorptive capacity. Organizations have different capacities—prior experiences, skills of their people, culture, attitude, commitment, and discipline—to absorb learning and undertake improvement. God’s gifts are, of course, boundless and unconditional. But our capacity to receive and absorb needs cultivation. When our life is cluttered with things, worries, resentment, bitterness, and busyness, there is not much room to receive. More importantly, God does not give us things, even if our blessings often lead us to acquire badges, buildings, and bling. God does give us power: the power to accept our own sinfulness, to acknowledge this in others. Still, we believe in the inexhaustible goodness in us and others because this is what it means to be made in God’s image. God’s power within us is like a current that, when turned on, illuminates and energizes. When we unplug from others in negative judgment and self-centeredness, we disconnect ourselves from God’s power. When we plug in to give and forgive, we invite the flow of God’s love and mercy into us. What I take away from today’s Gospel: Give to others, take from God.”