The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to step out in faith and seek the guidance of the Spirit to activate our care for those less fortunate.
The readings and commentary from the USCCB website was not available at publication time.
The reading from 1 Kings 17.10-16 shares the encounter of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath.
Psalm 146 offers Praise for God’s Help.
The reading from Hebrews 9.24-28 proclaims Christ and a sanctuary not made by human hands.
In the Gospel, Mark 12.41-44 Jesus exalts The Widow’s Offering.
Eileen Burke-Sullivan comments that the text from Mark is anticipated by a text from that Book of Kings that places us on the journey with Elijah into the harsh drought that Israel’s neighbors are trapped in. Elijah encounters a woman who recognized that the lack of rain will take many lives of the poor and unprivileged. We could say that the more things change the more they remain the same!
When asked by Elijah for food she states that she has none, but is about to use the last of the flour and oil to make a small loaf of bread, eat it and prepare to starve. Since Elijah is outside of Israel the woman is not Jewish but is recognizing the hospitality of the best of her culture. Even starving she will share her food. She gives from the limits of need rather than those of excess. It is also the message of Jesus who says to his disciples that God is honored by this ground of gift. As I prayed with these texts what came in grace, was that this stance is the one of humility. We are all needy but I do not want God to be God. I want to dictate to God what he may be allowed to have from me. I forget that all belongs to God that I can not give to God what does not already belong to God. This says that if I give a gift from my need and according to God’s will, I am responding rather than initiating. (Burke, 2024)
Don Schwager quotes “Mercy and compassion are never worthless,” by Leo the Great, 400-461 A.D.
"Although the spite of some people does not grow gentle with any kindness, nevertheless the works of mercy are not fruitless, and kindness never loses what is offered to the ungrateful. May no one, dearly beloved, make themselves strangers to good works. Let no one claim that his poverty scarcely sufficed for himself and could not help another. What is offered from a little is great, and in the scale of divine justice, the quantity of gifts is not measured but the steadfastness of souls. The 'widow' in the Gospel put two coins into the 'treasury,' and this surpassed the gifts of all the rich. No mercy is worthless before God. No compassion is fruitless. He has given different resources to human beings, but he does not ask different affections." (excerpt from SERMON 20.3.1.6) (Schwager, n.d.)
The Word Among Us Meditation on Mark 12:38-44 exhorts us to use this Gospel passage today to examine our own hearts. Are we willing to offer “all we have” to the Lord? Or do we hold onto some things—or some people—too tightly? Maybe we cling to our status and the respect that comes with it. Maybe we are holding onto our money too tightly instead of giving generously to those in need. Maybe we have too tight a grasp on our free time instead of being willing to serve someone. We might even struggle with “letting go” of someone close to us, like our adult children.
If you detect that you are holding onto something or someone too tightly, don’t despair! Imagine the Lord standing before you, smiling as he receives whatever gift you offer him. Then hear him say, “Don’t worry. I can give you all that you need!”
“Jesus, I want to offer everything I have to you. Help me to do it!” (Meditation on Mark 12:38-44, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the encounter of Elijah with a Gentile woman who had nearly run out of food yet shared her last meal with the prophet. We ponder the role of Providence for those who really trust in God. The Letter to the Hebrews resonates with the practice of the high priest at Yom Kippur as Jesus is offered once for all. The Mass is the making present to us the offering of Christ. Friar Jude reminds us that like the widow in the Gospel, some are less gifted spiritually and we are not to judge them.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, reflects on the painful consequences of feeling disconnected from God, self, one another, and the earth. Understanding the Trinity as the source of reality’s interconnectedness leads to healing.
Trinity overcomes the foundational philosophical problem of “the one and the many.” Serious seekers invariably wonder how things can be both deeply connected and yet clearly distinct. In the paradigm of Trinity, we have three autonomous “Persons,” as we call them, who are nevertheless in perfect communion, given and surrendered to each other with Infinite Love. With the endless diversity in creation, it’s clear that God is not at all committed to uniformity but instead desires unity—which is the great work of the Spirit—or diversity united by love. Uniformity is mere conformity and obedience to law and custom; whereas spiritual unity is that very diversity embraced and protected by an infinitely generous love. This is the problem that our politics and any superficial religion are still unable to resolve.
Trinity is all about relationship and connection. We know the Trinity through experiencing the Flow itself. The principle of one is lonely; the principle of two is oppositional and moves us toward preference and exclusion; the principle of three is inherently moving, dynamic, and generative. Trinity was made to order to undercut all dualistic thinking. Yet for all practical purposes, Christianity shelved it because our dualistic theologies could not process it. (Rohr, n.d.)
We seek the guidance of the Spirit to open our lives to the experience of Providence that may be evidenced in our work to bring full life to the widows and orphans of today.
References
Burke, E. (2024, November 10). Creighton U. Daily Reflection. Online Ministries. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/111024.html
Meditation on Mark 12:38-44. (n.d.). The Word Among Us: Homepage. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://wau.org/meditations/2024/11/10/1126069/
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Disconnection Leads to Devastation. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/disconnection-leads-to-devastation/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). This Poor Widow Has Put in More Than the Rest. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 10, 2024, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=nov10
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