9.11.2003 Sunday 32nd Ordinary Season
First Reading: I Kings 17,10-16
Psalm 145
Second Reading: Hebrews 9,24-28
Gospel: Mark 12,38-44
The letter to the Hebrews is about the mystery which is central to our salvation: the sins of many have been erased thanks to the offering of Jesus Christ of himself once and for all! He has stood before God on our behalf! We live, therefore, in gratitude to him to whom we owe our salvation and we await his second coming when he will judge the world! He will judge according to the Word which he has already spoken and which we have heard and hold in our hearts: his judgement reserves no surprises for us, as we know his will! We are fortunate, we have received a great gift in getting to know the Lord, our master who prepares us for eternal life! With true desire we try to look to him, to hear his every word, to see his every expression! From today's gospel we can see how observant he was of all that was around him. He noted the behaviour of important people: and did not omit to reprimand them if he felt that their actions might cause the little ones or the simples ones to stumble in their faith! He observed the behaviour of the crowd and showed his disciples those who could help them to orient their faith in a free and definite manner!
There were the scribes: influential experts in the things of God and always present in the synagogues. Everyone looked to them for an example. But Jesus saw their vanity, the conceit in their hearts, their love of money, the length of their prayers not for love of God, but in order to draw attention to themselves. To consider them exemplary could be somewhat dangerous! Jesus speaks out despite possible consequences; he warns the crowd against imitating the scribes.
Among the people of Israel there were not only negative examples. There was the poor widow. She, too, queued up to give her offering in the Temple. When the amount she contributed was announced, everyone could see her poverty. Her two coins added practically nothing to the offerings of the rich. But Jesus is struck by those two coins and called the disciples. What could be learnt from this? Jesus encourages them to observe the things and gestures of men and women from God's point of view!
We already know that God does not consider appearances, but looks into our hearts. The widow's heart is richer in faith than the hearts' of all the others. The widow's gesture shows her faith to be greater than that of the rich. Their offering was something superfluous: almost as if God were superfluous. The widow gives all she has, like a child who gives all it has to it's mother. The child knows that it's mother will provide for it every day and that it will lack nothing. It's mother's hands can take greater care of it's treasures than it's own. The widow giving all she has into God's hands shows how complete her faith is, true, concrete. She needs God as a child needs it's mother and for her, God is safer than any safety that money can provide!
Jesus wants his disciples to learn this faith. It is the same faith that the prophet Elijah asked of the widow of Zarephath during the terrible famine which had left her with nothing to eat.
Jesus asks us not to doubt that God is better than we are, and to believe that He is aware of all our needs and that He will provide for us if we have faith in Him and obey Him!
Furthermore, we learn today not to stop at appearances, but to consider everything
in order to see what God sees! We will probably discover that the poor, those
who dress shabbily, those who are not to be seen in important places, those
who are ignored and never called upon are further than we are on the path to
truth and saintliness.