Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 17:10-16; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
The First Book of Kings furnishes this weekend’s first reading from the Scriptures.
Political governance, in the minds of the ancient Hebrews, was not the chief function of their kings. Rather, their kings’ primary duty was assuring the nation’s faithfulness to God and to the law of God given through Moses.
Since this religious aspect was so vital, it is not surprising that many stories in the Books of Kings prominently include stories about the prophets who were active at the time. Prophets called the people to God.
Such is the case this weekend. The central figure in the story is Elijah, the prophet. In this reading, Elijah appears at the gate of a city and encounters a woman collecting twigs and branches to use as firewood.
She obviously is quite poor. She must forage for fuel. She needs food to provide for her son. The presumption is that she was a widow, and her son was a child.
In fact, she is so poor that she tells Elijah that after she and her son consume whatever she can bake using the meager amount of flour and oil on hand, she and the son will die. There is nothing else.
Elijah tells her that she and the son will not die. He says that if she will feed the prophet, then God will provide. The story ends by telling us that she prepared food for Elijah, and her flour and oil never ran out. He calls her to trust.
For its second reading, the church this weekend gives us a passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews. Building upon traditional Jewish themes, the author writes about Jesus in the most soaring language.
The reading declares that God has ordained that all people must die, but God also has ordained that all may live if they turn to Jesus. This is possible because of the sacrifice of Jesus on Calvary, and because of the reality of Jesus as a human and as the Son of God, in the mystery theologians call the Incarnation.
St. Mark’s Gospel offers us the last reading. It is a familiar story, appearing also in Luke, but not in Matthew.
In the story, the Lord speaks quite sternly about scribes. Scribes, able to read and write in an era when religious knowledge mattered more than anything else, and when illiteracy was common, were specialists in interpreting the law of Moses.
Jesus does not belittle the law of Moses but condemns the self-satisfaction and even sinful pride of the scribes.
He presents a contrast. At the time, in that culture, widows could be very vulnerable. The poor widow who gave to the temple a small donation, but great for her in her poverty, is the paragon of love for God and trust in God. Jesus spoke of her as such.
Reflection
The widow’s contribution is a story beloved by Christians for generations. It is a story of generosity. Even sinners, however, at times can be generous.
This widow’s generosity is a sign of her trust in God and of her understanding that the work of God on earth, such as the worship provided through the religious treasury, was entitled to her cooperation.
Trusting in God has its challenges. The times may be uncertain, leading us to fret about unwelcome and indeed dire possibilities in the future. As in everything, the world, the flesh and the devil distract us.
The wise are humble. Humility is about recognizing that we belong to God, and that God is supreme. The wise trust. We can never truly control our futures in this world. Reversals may, and do, come. We must keep our eyes on genuine security, a place in eternity, by loving God and obeying God.
