32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
B
1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44As I sat down to read the first reading, I looked at the miracles that have been a part of my life and I took a few moments to thank the Lord for them. My mind when back to the time of my birth, or better…the stories I heard growing up. I was in the hospital for one month after birth and it was thought that I might not make it. I’m sure prayers were offered up near and far and here I am 71 years later sharing this miracle and my priesthood.
Then I went and spent time looking more in depth at the readings and reflecting on the marvelous examples given to me as to how I should be grateful and live my life. The first reading from Kings tells of this non-Jewish woman who, being very realistic thought that the end of her life and her son’s was imminent. There had been a severe drought, and she was at the end of her food chain. She was a widow and there was no one to take care of her in this patriarchal society.
There is so much to the story: Elijah comes on the scene. He was sent by God to King Ahab. Now Ahab had lost any sense of spirituality and gratitude to God because of his wife Jezebel who had no respect for the Jewish faith. She instead promoted the cult of Baal, the Canaanite rain-god. So Elijah pronounces that there will be no rain until God sends him word to provide rain. This didn’t move Ahab at all; in fact Elijah had to flee from the anger of Ahab and Jezebel. What does God do to provide? God arranges a widow in Jezebel’s homeland to care for Elijah. In providing her last oil and flour and making the cake; she believed and trusted in the prophets words: God will provide. How much God has provided for me down through these years! My parents and siblings remember my infant hospital stay and prayed and they were answered. So many times, countless times I have prayed and been answered. The prayers have been answered in retrospect by realizing God’s absolute care and love for me. So often I didn’t get what I prayed for; but I did, because it brought me to where I am today: a redeemed sinner; a trying-to-be lover of God and a grateful transmitter of God’s presence and care.
The woman in the gospel tells me where I have to be and what I have to do to be forever grateful and a disciple of Jesus. The scene is the temple in Jerusalem which was the pride of the Jews both in its magnificence and enormity. The huge blocks of cut stone gave it an overwhelming sense of grandeur and permanence. Jesus is teaching his disciples about how to be real disciples by being grateful and self-sacrificing in their care. He contrasts this with the behavior of some of the scribes who liked being ‘looked up at’ and ‘respected’ because of their position of honor, training and accomplishments. Jesus is looking at those in the gospel scene who are hypocritical, phony and showy. I would imagine that these wouldn’t put anything in the treasury if they weren’t being watched. What they gave certainly wasn’t a sacrifice. Yet at the same time they urged the widows to give more to support the magnificence of the temple.
The widow woman doesn’t know any of
this and doesn’t pay attention to Jesus or the scribes. She just
came to give honor to God; and really she showed her absolute trust
in God that He would take care of her. What she gave amounted to a
penny; but that was a lot on many a day. But Jesus isn’t looking
at the amount; He is looking at how I evaluate myself and what is
important. This woman “gave from her want, all she had to live
on.” Fr. David Knight puts it beautifully when he states in
‘Living God’s Word’, “Jesus
isn’t just saying here that the lady was generous. He is saying
that what really matters to Him is not what she gives, but what she
is. What matters to Jesus is not what we do for Him but what we
become as persons during our time on earth. The only real and
lasting value in anything we do is found in what it helps us or other
people become. This is what life is all about. This is what Jesus
teaches.
Nothing lasts forever except
people. And the joy God takes in His creation is in what human beings
become through their responses to the world, to other people, and to
Him. Everything on earth was created for us, to help us grow to the
full likeness of Jesus Christ. And all that we do on earth, all that
we contribute of our time, our talent or our treasure, has no other
lasting effect except its effect on ourselves or other people because
nothing last forever except what we or other people become. The
teaching of Jesus about ‘productivity’ or accomplishments is that
we should look, not at how much we do or how much we give, but at
what we become through the act of doing it or giving it.”So why did God respond to the prayers of so many at my birth…so that I could be Him during my life and now. So I take this time to reflect on my journey and how I can continue to grow and love more and be filled with gratitude.
- Am I growing each day in my knowledge of Jesus by becoming
familiar with His words and His example? Am I opening up the
Gospels…am I putting myself in the scenes…am I listening to the
Spirit speaking to me? Am I living what I’m reading?
- Am I becoming familiar with Jesus’ words and examples and
patterning my life on everything He said and did? I preach that
everything else I do should flow out of this, but am I doing this?
- The best contribution I can make today and each day is that I
grow in likeness to the heart of Jesus. This is my gift to the
Father; this is my gratitude for living, for priesthood, for
ministry. Is this my motive… do I reflect on this each day?
- There will be doubts; there will be times of drought; there
are times of tiredness even laziness…so I pray, “Lord, You gave
me the gift of life and all that goes with it. Show me how to give
myself to others and to You.”
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