The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to exercise charity even as our cultural knowledge may encourage us otherwise.
Culture and Charity
The reading from the Book of the Prophet Daniel introduces us to the story of four young Israelites at the Babylonian Court.
* [1:8] This defilement: the bread, meat, and wine of the Gentiles were unclean (Hos 9:3; Tb 1:12; Jdt 10:5; 12:1–2) because they might have been offered to idols; and the meat may not have been drained of blood, as Jewish dietary law requires. This test relates to the attempt of Antiochus to force Jews to eat forbidden foods in contempt of their religion (1 Mc 1:62–63; 2 Mc 6:18; 7:1).1
The response from the Book of Daniel is from the Prayer of Azariah.
* [3:24–90] These verses are additions to the Aramaic text of Daniel, translated from the Greek form of the book. They were probably first composed in Hebrew or Aramaic, but are no longer extant in the original language. The Roman Catholic Church has always regarded them as part of the canonical Scriptures.2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus comments on the Widow’s Offering.
* [21:1–4] The widow is another example of the poor ones in this gospel whose detachment from material possessions and dependence on God leads to their blessedness (Lk 6:20). Her simple offering provides a striking contrast to the pride and pretentiousness of the scribes denounced in the preceding section (Lk 20:45–47). The story is taken from Mk 12:41–44.3
Mary Lee Brock comments that his profound and challenging teaching from Jesus helps her explore how she wants to express her gratitude and love during the Christmas season. She prays for the grace to understand how she can give not from “my surplus but from my livelihood”?
Jesus honoring the widow from offering her whole livelihood can feel overwhelming. As I pray with his words, I hear Jesus asking me to center my life to him. He is not asking me to give away all of my worldly possession, but he does ask me to question how I use my privilege responsibly. Jesus is extending a call to action, not a reprimand. Feeling guilt or shame for what we have can be sinful, as the focus on self prevents us from being in service to others.4
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)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20 comments that we too can face times of confusion or uncertainty. So how can we follow Daniel’s example and actively trust God? First and foremost, we need to ask the Lord for guidance and resolve to remember that no matter what is happening, we are in his hands. That’s our foundation. But we can build on that foundation by coming up with creative ways to face and deal with our difficult situation. God has given us logic, intuition, and imagination. As we use them and try to follow the Spirit, we might be surprised at the answers we come up with!
When Daniel stood before the king, healthier than any of the other young men despite his limited diet, he proved God’s trustworthiness. That truth helped him face whatever might follow with boldness and faith in God. The same can happen to you as you step out in faith, listen to the Spirit, and creatively act on his guidance. You’ll experience God holding you in his hands, and that will give you a deeper conviction that he won’t ever let you go! “Father, I trust that I am in your hands. Thank you for your wisdom to help me meet my challenges.”6
Friar Jude Winkler explains the policy of training conquered nobles in the ways of the conquering power and the connection of the story set in the time of the Babylonian exile to the persecution of the Jews under the Seleucid emperor, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Daniel is a book of consolation and exhortation for Jewish ways. Friar Jude reminds us that the Gospel message is that we are judged by what we have and not by what we do.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, shares the importance of archetypes for the soul’s encounter with God, which Carl Jung explored in great depth.
For Jung, the God archetype is the soul’s whole-making function that drives us toward giving ourselves totally to something or someone, and initiates our desire for the absolute. It says to us: “Become who you are. Become all that you are. There is still more of you to be discovered, forgiven, and loved.” In the journey toward psychic wholeness, Jung stresses the necessary role of religion or the God archetype in integrating opposites, including the conscious and the unconscious, the one and the many, good (by embracing it) and evil (by forgiving it), masculine and feminine, the small self and the Big Self. I call this deep center of the psyche the True Self, the Christ Self, which has learned to consciously abide in union with the Presence within us (John 14:17).7
Knowledge of our spiritual tradition and the natural world informs our relationship with God, as the Spirit nudges us to serve others through our self sacrifice.
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