32^nd Sunday of the Year – 11 November 2012

I Kgs 17: 10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12: 38-44 Dr. Thomas Lane Butts tells the story of six people who froze to death around a campfire on a bitterly cold night. Each had a stick of wood they might have contributed to the fire, but for reasons satisfactory to themselves each person refused to give what they had. A woman would not give her stick of wood because there was an African-American person in the circle. A homeless man would not give because there was a rich man there. The rich man would not give because his contribution would warm someone who was obviously shiftless and lazy. Another would not give his stick when he recognized one not of his particular religious faith. The African-American man withheld his piece of wood as a way of getting even with the whites for all they had done to him and his race. And the fire died as each person withheld his/her piece of fuel for reasons justifiable to them. This story was originally told in a poem that ends with these tragic lines: "Six logs held fast in death's still hand was proof of human sin; They did not die from the cold without; they died from the cold within." (Rev. Siegfried S. Johnson) The wealthy people in our story were cold within, but this poor widow glowed with her love for God and for His Temple.
Introduction: Today’s readings invite us to live out a total commitment to God’s service with a humble and generous heart, free from pride and prejudice. The first reading and the gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving His life for others. In the reading from the First Book of Kings, a poor widow, who had barely enough food for herself and her son, welcomed the prophet Elijah as a man of God, shared her food with him and received her reward in the form of a continuing daily supply of food. Today’s psalm is the first in the final group of Hallel psalms. In it, God is praised for his loving-kindness toward the needy, including widows. In the gospel, Jesus contrasted the external signs of honor sought by the scribes with the humble, sacrificial offering of a poor widow and declared that she had found true honor in God’s eyes. The poor widows in both the first reading and the gospel gave away all that they possessed for the glory of God. The second reading tells us how Jesus, as the High Priest of the New Testament, surrendered His life to God His Father totally and unconditionally, as a sacrificial offering for our sins – a sacrifice far beyond the sacrifices made by the poor widows.
The scribes of Jesus' day were experts in the Law of Moses, scholars to whom people turned for a proper understanding of God's will as revealed in Scripture. But in today’s gospel, Jesus moves from the scribes' erroneous theology to their bankrupt ethics, reflected in their craving for pre-eminence both in religious gatherings (in the synagogue), and in social settings (market places and banquets). Jesus publicly criticizes their behavior as a ceaseless grasping for honor. He begins by attacking the popular style of scribal dress, a fairly easy target. A first-century scribe wore a long linen robe with a long white mantle decorated with beautiful long fringes. Jesus' observation that the scribes liked "to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces" is a reference to the tradition which dictated that common people "in the marketplace" should respectfully rise to their feet when a scribe walked past. Likewise at banquets and dinner parties, when rich men invited scribes and perhaps some of their pupils as guests, they would give these men prominent seats. Similarly, the scribe's synagogue seat of honor placed him up front with the Torah, facing the congregation. The problem Jesus pinpoints is that the scribes had confused the respect intended for the position they held with respect given them for their own abilities and accomplishments. Jesus also characterizes the scribes’ offering of long prayers to God, whether in the synagogue or Temple or some other highly public place, not as an attempt to seek God's will or praise God's Name, but as a means of asserting, and being honored for, superior piety.
In verse 40, Jesus denounces the shameless profiteering of the scribes at the expense of widows. The Jewish scribes of the first century were not paid for being scribes because they were not considered as belonging to a professional, self-supporting group. Devouring widows' houses is Jesus' condemnatory description of the source of the luxurious lives led by some scribes who impoverished gullible and pious widows who volunteered to support them. The reference to "widows' houses" could also refer to the scribes' tendency to abuse their powers as trustees for the estates of wealthy widows. Further, these authorities were charged with distributing the Temple collections to widows and the needy. In actuality, however, some spent the funds on conspicuous consumption: long robes and banquets and Temple decorations. This is how they devoured the estates of widows. Power and position often lead even religious leaders to material greed and corruption.
As Jesus and his disciples sat and watched the comings and goings of those offering their gifts of support, for the Temple treasury, they observed many wealthy worshipers placing significant sums into the temple treasury. But it was not until Jesus observed the tiny offering of two leptons (equivalent to a couple of pennies), made by a poor widow, that He was moved to comment on the proceedings. It was not the woman's poverty that made her gift significant for Jesus. For Him, it was the fact that this widow, alone among all the contributors lined up to give their offerings, gave her all. The very rich put in much, and the moderately well-off put in a decent amount. But all those who had gone before this widow had limited their giving by holding back a major portion of their money for their own use. This widow stood alone as the one who had turned over, as an offering to God for His use, everything she had -- two leptons. Those two, almost worthless coins represented her last shred of security, her fragile thread of hope for the future. With her deep desire to be an obedient servant of God, the widow gave all she had as an offering -- even her future -- for the sake of God. In other words, she gave herself totally into God’s hands, with the sure conviction that He would give her the support she needed.
Oddly, some modern Bible commentators argue that Jesus’ statement that this poor widow put in all she had, was not intended primarily as praise of the woman but was meant both as a prophetic denunciation of the members of the Temple establishment who took advantage of such little people and as the expression of His personal moral indignation at the situation. How , they ask, could Mark's Jesus praise someone for sacrificing everything to a place and system which, even in the first century, Christians believed Jesus had replaced? Jesus' constant Gospel teaching had been grounded in a belief that religion was never to use people's benevolence to enrich itself. Christians were to direct their generosity to the needs of others, not to enrich their parishes beyond a certain limit. Yet Mark clearly focuses on the widow’s deed. In contrast to the external signs of honor sought by the scribes, she sought only to please God, and she, not they, possessed true honor in God’s eyes. “The simple piety of this woman of no social standing is contrasted with the arrogance and social ambitions of some so-called religious leaders. This poor woman, in a daring act of trust in God's providence, put into the treasury everything she had. Her action symbolized what Jesus would do by offering his very life to God his Father as an act of perfect obedience.
What do we take home from today’s liturgy?
Let us learn to appreciate the widows and widowers of our parish community. Their loneliness draws them closer to God and to stewardship in the parish. They are often active participants in all the liturgical celebrations, offering prayers for their families and for their parish family. Frequently, they are active in the parish organizations, as well as in visiting and serving the sick and the shut-ins. Hence, let us appreciate them, support them, encourage them and pray for them.
We need to accept Christ’s criteria of judging people: We often judge people by what they possess. We give weight to their position in society, to their educational qualifications, or to their celebrity status. But Jesus measures us in a totally different way on the basis of our inner motives and intentions hidden behind our actions. He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to His holy will. The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives. What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our purses.
We need to pour out our "whole life." Can we, like the poor widow, find the courage to share the wealth and talents we hold? Can we stop dribbling out our stores of love and selflessness and sacrifice and compassion and dare to pour out our whole heart, our whole being, our "whole life" into the love-starved coffers of this world?
(Adapted from Sunday Homilies of Fr. Tony Kadavil)