Nov. 8th 2009: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B): 1 Kgs 17:10-16, Heb 9:24-28, Mk 12:38-44
Jesus has left Galillee and is now journeying towards his ultimate destiny in Jerusalem. He knows he has to suffer, die, and be raised up again to fulfill his Father's mission, to save us all. There must be so many things he wants to do still but time is short. He also knows that the Twelve he has chosen has to carry on the mission af proclaiming the Gospel after he is gone but wants them to understand not only the message but the need of sincerity of heart to carry it. They've argued about who is the greatest, requested places of honor at his side, at many times sounding like the Pharisees he was observing in today's Gospel.
In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."
All throughout his ministry he has been trying to show that it is what comes from the heart, what is internal that matters. Not external things and rituals that are just show and fluff if not accompanied by a genuine movement of the heart. So he points out an old widow who gave two small coins to the treasury as an example:
'He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."'
This is the second widow that we hear in the readings today. Elijah went to the town of Zarephath and met a widow there. She was gathering sticks to go home and prepare a last meal for her son and herself because there was a severe famine and drought and this was all she had left. Then they would wait and die. Elijah asks her for water and bread and she takes all she had and gave it to him. Perhaps she felt one last poor meal wouldn't make a difference for her or her son but sustain a traveeller passing through but whatever reason it was: she gave all she had in kindness.
There are so many things that we can learn from this. Here is just a few:
Not even the poor are exempt from giving
It is not the amount we are giving that God notes but whether we are giving sacrificially
Giving sacrificially results in favor from God
Of course Jesus knew that to reveal the depths of his Father's love to a world of sinners would require giving all that he had; his own life. He would give it up on the cross so that we might have the promise of eternal life. Not greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend and in doing so the Father exalted him. In the first reading the widow's flour and oil never runs out until the famine was over.
In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation."
All throughout his ministry he has been trying to show that it is what comes from the heart, what is internal that matters. Not external things and rituals that are just show and fluff if not accompanied by a genuine movement of the heart. So he points out an old widow who gave two small coins to the treasury as an example:
'He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
"Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."'
This is the second widow that we hear in the readings today. Elijah went to the town of Zarephath and met a widow there. She was gathering sticks to go home and prepare a last meal for her son and herself because there was a severe famine and drought and this was all she had left. Then they would wait and die. Elijah asks her for water and bread and she takes all she had and gave it to him. Perhaps she felt one last poor meal wouldn't make a difference for her or her son but sustain a traveeller passing through but whatever reason it was: she gave all she had in kindness.
There are so many things that we can learn from this. Here is just a few:
Not even the poor are exempt from giving
It is not the amount we are giving that God notes but whether we are giving sacrificially
Giving sacrificially results in favor from God
Of course Jesus knew that to reveal the depths of his Father's love to a world of sinners would require giving all that he had; his own life. He would give it up on the cross so that we might have the promise of eternal life. Not greater love than to lay down one's life for a friend and in doing so the Father exalted him. In the first reading the widow's flour and oil never runs out until the famine was over.