The readings for the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B may be found at:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111024.cfm
In this week’s gospel passage from the evangelist St. Mark, we see Jesus in Jerusalem, teaching the crowds at the Temple treasury.
The Treasury was a court that was located to the east of the Temple itself.
Often referred to as the Court of the Women,
because this was as far as women were allowed to enter the Temple grounds.
You can imagine the scene,
a busy and bustling courtyard,
a public place with all kinds of people everywhere,
having conversations,
doing their business,
seeing and being seen.
As Jesus taught,
He called attention to the scribes and to the people giving at the treasury.
The scribes wanting to see and be seen.
The rich openly putting in large sums.
While the poor widow gave just a few cents.
And as Jesus watched what was going on,
He drew a stark contrast between them.
Despite the large amounts they gave,
Jesus saw clearly that it didn’t hurt them to give -
because they gave from their surplus.
In fact, what they gave only increased their stature within the community.
Because everyone saw what they had and what they gave.
And then Jesus highlighted the poor widow.
With little to nothing to give.
To the wealthy she likely looked like she had no business being there,
Yet she gave anyway.
Not giving from her abundance,
or from her surplus,
But instead, giving from her poverty,
from what little she did have.
She gave from the very depths of her being.
Selflessly.
Sacrificially.
It must have hurt to give like that.
This section of Mark’s gospel is not complicated.
You don’t have to be a theologian to figure it out.
What Jesus is trying to teach us is that our Catholic faith
is not to be a self-absorbed, superficial or showy faith.
It’s a faith that calls us to dig deep,
a faith that is sacrificial,
a faith of humility,
a faith not about thinking less of ourselves,
but about thinking of ourselves less.
a faith that calls all of us to bear the cross.
If you take nothing else out of this homily today,
I want you to take this.
Our Catholic faith isn’t about us
or what we have or what we don’t have.
It’s about how and what we give to God.
And it’s about the amazing riches that God gives us in return.
It’s about a God who is not self-absorbed,
and faithful Catholics who aren’t either.
It’s about a God who emptied Himself
and gave Himself so that we could be reconciled to Him.
A completely selfless and sacrificial love.
Our Catholic faith calls us to be like the poor window.
To love, live and give sacrificially.
To give as the Blessed Mother Theresa once said - “until it hurts.”
And this isn’t just about money.
Regardless of how much money we have or don’t have,
we are all abundantly blessed with many kinds of resources,
time, talents, and opportunities each and every day -
to give compassion, support, prayers and love to others.
God gives us many opportunities to give until it hurts, like the poor widow.
To allow us to more fully live our faith the way He calls us to do it
and in the process devote ourselves more completely to God.
Making ourselves and our lives a gift to Him and each other.
This week,
let us reflect on how and what we give of what we have.
Let us ask God to see what others overlook,
and to help us to give of ourselves where it is most needed.
Let us pray that God gives us the courage and strength to examine our hearts,
to trust Him more fully,
so that we give more generously and sacrificially of ourselves like He does.
Always reminded that when we give from our poverty,
we more fully allow God to give of His riches.
