Gospel for November 8, 2009, Sunday
Claretian Communications Foundation, Inc. | 11/08/2009 12:05 AM
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32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: 1 K 17:10–16
Elijah went to Zarephath. On reaching the gate of the town, he saw a widow gathering sticks. He called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel that I may drink.”
As she was going to bring it, he called after her and said, “Bring me also a piece of bread.” But she answered, “As Yahweh your God lives, I have no bread left but only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am just now gathering some sticks so that I may go in and prepare something for myself and my son to eat and die.”
Elijah then said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you have said, but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me; then make some for yourself and your son. For this is the word of Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be emptied nor shall the jug of oil fail, until the day when Yahweh sends rain to the earth.”
So she went and did as Elijah told her; and she had food for herself, Elijah and her son from that day on. The jar of flour was not emptied nor did the jug of oil fail, in accordance with what Yahweh had said through Elijah.
2nd Reading: Heb 9:24–28
Christ did not enter some sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself. He is now in the presence of God on our behalf. He had not to offer himself many times, as the High Priest does: he who may return every year, because the blood is not his own. Otherwise he would have suffered many times from the creation of the world. But no; he manifested himself only now at the end of the ages, to take away sin by sacrifice, and, as humans die only once and afterwards are judged, in the same way Christ sacrificed himself once to take away the sins of the multitude. There will be no further question of sin when he comes again to save those waiting for him.
Gospel: Mk 12:38–44
As Jesus was teaching, he also said to the people, “Beware of those teachers of the Law who enjoy walking around in long robes and being greeted in the marketplace, and who like to occupy reserved seats in the synagogues and the first places at feasts. They even devour the widow’s and the orphan’s goods while making a show of long prayers. How severe a sentence they will receive!”
Jesus sat down opposite the Temple treasury and watched the people dropping money into the treasury box; and many rich people put in large offerings. But a poor widow also came and dropped in two small coins.
Then Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all those who gave offerings. For all of them gave from their plenty, but she gave from her poverty and put in everything she had, her very living.”
Commentary
Can we ever forget the image of the poor widow putting into the treasury all that she had? Even in her poverty she did not neglect to make a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for blessings received. And we can surmise that this widow, like the widow at Zarephath, would know the Lord’s tender mercies, for God will not be outdone in generosity.
The generosity of the poor widow is both an inspiration and a challenge to us as we strive to be good stewards of the blessings we have received from the Lord. As the Lord has been good to us, so too must we be good to others, sharing generously and lovingly with our family, our Church, and the poor.
Our model for generosity, of course, is the Lord Jesus. He became poor so that we might become infinitely wealthy. Our Lord gave everything He had to give by stretching out His arms upon the cross so that we might know the joys of heaven. May our care generosity be nothing less than wholehearted, following the example of our Lord and the example of the poor widow.
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