12/11/2006 - XXXII SUNDAY in ORDINARY TIME - Year B
First Reading 1 Kings 17:10-16 Psalm 145/146
Second Reading Hebrews 9:24-28 Gospel Mark 12:38-44
You shall not covet your neighbour's house, or his land, or his manservant,
or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything else that is your neighbour's!
The tenth Commandment summarizes the recommendations and the teachings of the
Lord and the Apostles. The desire for riches guides many of our decisions and
all of the actions of our life, as does the desire of every other man and woman.
The desire for riches makes our eye envious of the riches of others, and it
may lead us to doing something rash: burglary, deception, trickery, falsehood,
homicide, etc. How much evil is caused by a desire that is not according to
God thinking! We must, also, turn our attention inside ourselves, so that we
won't allow ourselves to be dragged into what is pleasing; rather, we must be
guided by the Lord towards all that He wants and loves. What belongs to others,
though they may be very rich, is entrusted to them so that they use it as an
instrument of love for many others. If they use it selfishly for their own pleasure
and for their benefit alone, they are not using it wisely, and they will b judged
accordingly. We, too, are entrusted with all we have, so we can use it as instrument
of love and of communion with others; above all, for the poor. If we could look
at all riches this way, we would not covet them, and our heart would remain
pure and free to love. If we have the desire of riches, in our heart, we cannot
look at others with the freedom of one who loves his brothers, but with the
look of one who is in search of clients, or one who fears competitors. God's
wisdom warns us in advance: "Whoever builds his house with other people's
money is like one who gathers stones for his burial mound" (Sir 21:8),
and so He recommends: "Though riches may increase, keep your heart detached"
(Ps 62:11). Still, another Scripture says: "He who loves money never has
money enough; he who loves wealth never has enough profit" (Eccl 5:9).
When Jesus Christ came, He experienced a "relationship with sin",
with our sin, and he suffered and died so that He could "annul our sin
by sacrificing Himself". Sin has a painful effectiveness on our life, both
personal and social, because it has the power of death. We, who are sinners,
cannot run from the temptation that sin exercises over all our choices. The
love of the Father gives us the Son, so that, by sacrificing Himself, He frees
us from the harm that we, continually, create for ourselves, by sinning. We
move away from the Father, by living according to our own reasoning and our
own thinking, instead of obeying the Word that comes from His love. Jesus, by
offering Himself, makes it possible to begin a new life that is full of the
love of the Father! At the end, "He will appear to reward with salvation
those who are waiting for Him". We await our Lord's coming. Our life will
be filled with this anticipation! By waiting form Jesus to come in His glory,
our heart is able to put the things of this world in perspective, even the most
beautiful and attractive ones, and we can give them a value that is measured
by love.
By calling them to observe the scene with the poor widow, what Jesus wants to
teach His Apostles is to prepare for His coming in glory. What are the things
of value in this world? What things should be in our heart and mind? What can
draw our attention and motivate our choices?
The world, in which we lived and live, continues to give importance to money
and power, that is the power of acquisition, but also, the power that dictates
how men our looked upon by their families and by other people. We have allowed
ourselves to be dominated by money everywhere, even within the Church. We do
what costs the least, or whatever allows us to earn the most money. Jesus can
look into our heart, and therefore, value things, including money, starting
from what's in our heart. The widow, of whom He speaks to the disciples, has
very little money, but her heart is filled with love for the Father and has
complete faith in His providence, a faith that does not deny food even "to
the raven's offsprings, who shout at Him"! By giving all of her small amount
of money in alms, that woman shows the richness of her heart; better yet, that
of the heart of God! The two small coins that fall into the treasury are very
heavy in the heart of the Father: thanks to them, He knows that He has a daughter
who loves Him, and is ready to obey Him. The large sums of money given by the
wealthy could satisfy the priests from the temple because they could continue
the construction, but did they brighten the heart of the Father? The widow had
already reached that point, though the Temple might not, yet, have been completed:
she already had faith and confidence in God, by realizing that He was the foundation
of her life, and by being certain of His love. The gold of the wealthy could
not show the face of God; He was not seen as Father because of its tinkling!
Even the great Elijah turned to a poor widow to obtain God's help in his life,
confident that, in that faithful poverty, the God of life would become present
and effective!
As we look forward to the coming of Jesus, we are led to not be attached to
the things of the world: we put all that we have at the disposal of the love
of God for all His children!