(Homily for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B)
A generous person will prosper;
whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. (Pro. 11:25)
There is indeed, a predominant
tendency inherent in the contemporary man to calibrate the human beings along
the lines of the have and the have not; the successful and the unsuccessful,
and finally the poor and the rich. This type of erroneous tendency often times
has plunged man into the clutches of pragmatism, where those who count are the
haves, the successful and the rich. On the other hand, in today’s readings, the two widow-protagonists educate us on
the difference between being successful and being fruitful. Certainly, in
human standard, the two poor widows were not successful, but they were fruitful
because they maximized the little or nothing they had. This no doubt confirms
the dictum that ‘Nobody is so poor or destitute that he or she cannot give
anything’, the two widows are eloquent expressions of that. Many a times we
ask: do I have enough? Or for our defence mechanism we say “I don’t have enough
that I will give out.” The two widows in today’s readings must have been
confronted with this question as well. But they demonstrated to us what ought to be
the authentic Christian response and reaction. The liturgy of today presents to us two poor widows, as opposed to the rich
scribes. They are widows in a pathetic social condition. Ordinarily, they
are judged to be unable to do great things based on human standard, but they
are protagonists of two extraordinary gestures.
In the
first reading (1kg 17:10-16) we see
two figures: the widow of the city of Zarephate and Prophet Elijah. The men of
Ahab were pursuing Elijah, and he risked dying of hunger because of the famine.
He went towards the city of Zarephate of Sidon, and on his way he met a widow with
her son. One can imagine the plight of Prophet Elijah, who was passing through
persecution in the hands of King Ahab. He was insecure in his homeland; as a
result, he flew to another country. No person from his village was ready to
help him because they were afraid of the King. The prophet felt administered by
God to go to a pagan country. And in this country a poor pagan widow welcomed
and assisted him. She equally shared what she had for survival with Elijah. On
his way, he met the poor widow of Zarephath, he requested water from her, and
later a piece of bread, and the widow told him “I have no baked bread, but only
a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a
stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we
shall die.” On hearing this the prophet told her not to be afraid. The widow
without hesitation went and prepared all she had for the prophet, not minding
that, that was all her hope for survival. This story teaches us that: ●God is present in human history; he
does not limit his love and omnipotence to Israel his rebellious people, but
looks with mercy on pagans. He used them also to do wonders. ●God can save from any situation, even in desperate cases like that of Elijah,
and can work through weak and inadequate means. ●The story of the widow’s
inexhaustible supply thereafter occasioned the declaration of the Word of God
by the prophet. The prophet declared that “jar of meal shall not be spent, jug
of oil shall not be emptied”. In this episode the power of God’s word is
revealed in the fulfilment in verse 16 of the promise made in verse 14. The hospitality of the widow of Zarephath
that sustained Elijah corresponds to the generous gesture of another widow in
today’s gospel.
The Gospel passage (Mk 12:38-44) like the first reading
presents to us another kind and generous gesture of a woman, widow and a pagan
too. Here, it was not all about great
things or great donation, just like in the case of the Zarephath widow. The
first woman gave only bread and water, and the second gave just two coins. But one thing paramount in their giving or in
their act of kindness is that they gave with their whole heart, they gave even
all they have, all that is necessary for their survival. The two widows
today demonstrated their total and
undivided trust in God, and they entered into the spirit of the evangelical
beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, the poor in biblical sense are
those who neither confide in what they have nor in themselves, but in God. The
passage of the Gospel can be divided into two parts: the first part on Jesus’
denunciation of the scribes, and the second on the episode of the widow’s
offering. The behaviour of the scribes
is contrastingly sharp with that of the widow. The story of the widow however,
serves as a form of catechesis on the Christian duty of almsgiving.
In the
episode of today’s Gospel, Jesus took a
curious posture, he sat very close to the offering box in the temple, he
saw the rich putting in large sums, but this poor widow put in only two coins.
Immediately he called his disciples and said to them “truly, i say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the
treasury”. Jesus praised her for her
generosity, irrespective of the amount she had given. Jesus was counting
the quality and confident nature of her offering, not on its quantity. Man
looks on appearance, but God looks at the heart (1Sam 16:7). God’s weighing
balance is qualitative and not quantitative. Is not quantity that counts
but the quality of one’s internal disposition, the heart. While the rich gave
from their excess and superfluity, she gave out of her nothingness and poverty.
Indeed, before God what counts is not
the quantity of the offering, or the publicity of the gestures, but the
interior motivation and disposition. God wants us to give to Him and our
brothers without calculating. God of course, cannot be deceived by mere
appearance (Jesus at the side of the
treasury penetrated the hearts of the givers). He reads our hearts and
minds to see if we have confidence and trust in his providence, or we have confidence
in human accruements.
On the
other hand, Jesus denounces the vanity
and exhibitionistic attitude of the scribes. He denounces the scribes, in the same manner he denounces our apparent
and superficial religiosity made up of empty rites and exterior observances.
Jesus takes a clear position against the representatives of the official
religion. In Jerusalem, according to St. Mark, as well as Mathew and Luke,
Jesus was separated definitively from the leaders of Israel. He exposed their
vanity, ambitions and greed. They love to be revered, they are desirous of
front seats in public places and they
even instrumentalize their long prayers to their vanity. They devour the
houses of widows and those that are socially weak (vv.38-40). Jesus does not
cover evil; He does not tolerate falsity and double life at all. He abhors the hypocrisy of a religious
observance put as a cover for an unworthy life. The reproach of Jesus to
the scribes has to propel us to reflect a bit, because we cannot be contended with a superficial and apparent religiosity,
that does not lead us to conversion.
For our two
exemplary widows, their acts of kindness
drew God’s attention to their lives; to the widow of Zarephath God promised
“The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the pitcher of oil shall not fail,
until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth” (vv.15-16). And He praised the widow of the gospel thus: “this poor
widow has put more than all those who are contributing to the treasury” (v.43). In the words of St. Paul, “Each
one should give as much as he has decided on his own initiative, not
reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2Cor. 9:7). The book of Malachi
presents the blessings of generous givers in a more fascinating manner thus:
Bring the tithes in full to the treasury, so that there is food in my house; put me to the test now like this, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you and pour out an abundant blessing for you. For your sake I shall forbid the locust to destroy the produce of your soil or prevent the vine from bearing fruit in your field, says Yahweh Sabaoth, and all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delights, says Yahweh Sabaoth. (Mal. 3:10-12).
Our simple
act of generosity will draw God's attention in our existence. The two widows teach us that no person is too poor
to the extent that he or she cannot offer anything. Our generosity should not be
geared towards drawing man's attention but God's. Our motivation determines the authenticity of our generosity. From
the good and courageous examples of these two widows emerge few educative
considerations for us:
►First, to avoid the tendency and temptation of
judging people based on appearance, because apparently these two women are
insignificant and have nothing to offer, but instead they are two exceptional
persons, who are capable of making extraordinary gestures. Their simple gesture of sharing has become an event in history, and a
school for generosity and charity. Let us therefore, do away with human
standard of looking at appearance and emulate the divine standard, “God does
not see as human beings see; they look at appearance but Yahweh looks at the
heart” (1Sam. 16:7). ►Second, from
the two widows we learn once again that believing
seriously in God, with a convinced faith, means trusting completely in Him,
abandoning oneself to God and his providence. Whoever believes in this
ideal is not contended with giving from his excesses. ►Third, as a catechesis
on almsgiving, the two widows teach us
to give without ostentation, but rather to give sincerely and willingly.
The second
reading (Heb. 9:24-28) is a
continuation of the author’s exposition of the priestly work of Christ in
contrast with the levitical priesthood. The author once again makes some
comparisons thus: The levitical priests
had a material sanctuary, while Jesus’ is a heavenly sanctuary with the real
presence of God. They repeated sacrifices yearly, while Jesus’ was once for
all. They offered sacrifices with the blood of animals, while Jesus offered his
own blood. The priestly sacrifice of Christ is a manifestation of Love, a love
given once and for all. The shedding of his blood on the Cross is a sign of his
love for the Father and for humanity. The
two widows of today by virtue of their generosity enter into the dynamics of
the sacrificial love of Christ. For we may say that they offered their all,
in like manner Jesus offered his all including himself as a generous gift to
the Father for our sake. Jesus’ is a
holocaustal offering or self-giving, while theirs is a holocaustal giving.
In all, the decision of the
widow of Zarephath to give to prophet Elijah out of his sustenance, is what
justified her before God, and thus attracted God’s blessings and favour, for
the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry. Similarly, in
the episode of the Markan Gospel, another poor widow puts in the offering box,
her two small tunics, which were her livelihood. Her gesture attracted Jesus,
for in Jesus’ parlance she outshines all including the rich who have been
throwing their large sums noisily in the box. God recognizes those who give with their whole heart, those who give
their all. The two poor widows acknowledged God even in their condition of
extreme poverty. The two wings of love we meditated upon last Sunday propelled
them to wave aside the question of “do I have enough?” Before God what counts is not the quantity of the gift
or the publicity of the gestures, rather the internal disposition, what counts
behind such internal disposition is Love. And Jesus as revealed in the second reading, in his priestly sacrifice
demonstrated to us the extent one can go in loving others and the Other. God
desires that we offer ourselves to Him and to the brothers without measure or
human calculations. God cannot be deceived by appearance, for He sees the heart
of each person. He therefore, knows whether we trust in Him or we prefer to
rest secure upon human accruements. The
historic gestures of these two widows have to propel us to ask ourselves the
intension and the motivation behind our little gestures of generosity. Many
give because of pressure, others to avoid embarrassment and some to get
something in return. But true giving
should spring from the heart, motivated by the real value of giving.
Remember always: Our simple act of generosity will attract God's attention! Try
and see! Do not only count your blessings, but share your blessings too! And may God bless you.
(Fr. Vitus Chigozie,
SC)
No comments:
Post a Comment