1 Kings 17:10-17; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44
My God is Alive – I will give him my Widow’s Mite, my whole Life!
Late Fr. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor said that each time one meets an Irish who needs to defend his Irish identity, such an Irish person must be living outside of Ireland. Analogously, to have a prophet whose name is Elijah: EL (God) – i (my) – Jah (Yahweh) – “my God is Yahweh,” there must be people or situations that contest the kind of God or the name of the God he worshipped.
After his marriage to Jezebel (1 Kings 17:31-34), king Ahab became a worshipper of Ba’al and abandoned Yahweh. Elijah – “my God is Yahweh” – begins his prophetic ministry as one who restores the dignity and respect due to Yahweh. After his prediction of a drought, Yahweh asked Elijah to leave, first, for the Wadi, then, to Zarephath (1 Kings 17:1-9).
The drought predicted by Elijah brought about famine, to prove that Yahweh provides food for Israel not Ba’al: a contest between Yahweh and Ba’al. But for the worshipper of Yahweh, the prophet Elijah, God provides food for him through a widow in Zarephath. What the Israelites could not understand that there is but Yahweh as God, a widow understood – she believed the word of Elijah, “For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth” (1 Kings 17:14). The absence of faith in Yahweh in the king of Israel, Ahab, God finds in his servant, Elijah; the lack of faith in Yahweh among Israelites, God finds in an outsider, a widow of Zarephath.
When everything was OK for Israel, she abandoned her faith in Yahweh. When life was rough for a widow – the very fact of being a widow means she had nothing – coupled with a responsibility of looking after a child with no apparent means of livelihood, she still believed that the God of Elijah, a total stranger to her, could provide for her material needs! Of course, Yahweh did not fail her!
Another contest of faith pits a widow against the Scribes and the Rich in our gospel reading today (Mark 12:38-44). While the Scribes are fixated on earthly glories and the Rich display wealth in the Church, a poor widow does not only give up all she had, she also gives up her whole life to God. Tempted by earthly goodies and money neither the Rich nor the Scribes could resist, but a widow did.
Each one of us goes through some temptations which threaten our faith in God – wealth, illness, addictions, poverty, politics, power, etc. How pathetic to abandon God, when he is so near to us! One sure way of keeping faith alive, in spite of temptations, is what our second reading speaks to – God is ever alive and not death. With faith, he comes back to live mightily!
According to our second reading, “and just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), this does not mean that after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he (Christ) is no longer interested in human affairs: he is very much interested in our affairs! In fact, Jesus is not on vacation in heaven – he is working around the clock interceding with God for our faithfulness and salvation. Hear what the second reading says: “For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf” (Hebrews 9:24). Consequently, Jesus Christ is alive and actively interceding for us before the throne of God. We do not worship a dead God, but a living God! In fact, “Yahweh” means “he is” or “he exists.” Show him your faith, and he will display to you that he is always alive, as he did for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath!
The fact that faith and trust in God is possible in a hopeless situation – the widow of Zarephath proves it in our first reading today; that when God is challenged he rises to the occasion through a faithful servant of his – the prophet Elijah proves it in our first reading today; that for those who have faith in God, God proves himself as being alive to them – we can confirm in the first reading of today; that by faith, we can give God a spiritual sacrifice, even when we are materially poor – the widow’s mite proves it in our gospel reading: she gave her whole life to God! Yes, My God is Alive – I will give him my Widow’s Mite, my whole Life, and by my faith, I will show that God is alive even today!
Assignment for the Week
Could you seek out a needy person/widow in your neighborhood/family and show him/her that God exists through your act of charity?
An Exegetical Homily on the Gospel (Mark 12:38-44) for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B (November 8, 2015)
The popular versions of today’s gospel hide the exegetical elements of the gospel; consequently, I have given a literal translation of the gospel – especially its punch lines.
Step I: What does the Text say?
Jesus said, in his teaching: Look away (βλέπετε ἀπὸ) from the scribes who desire to walk about in long robes, [who desire] salutations in the market squares, (Mark 12:38) and the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! (Mark 12:39) They devour widows’ houses/possessions and as a pretext say long prayers. They will receive a severe sentence. (Mark 12:40) He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. (Mark 12:41) A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. (Mark 12:42) Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are putting into the treasury. (Mark 12:43) For all of them have put in out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had – her whole life.” (Mark 12:44)
Step II: The Meaning of the Text: In faith, give Jesus your whole Life, Your Widow’s Mite!
A Literary Analysis/Exegesis: Nominal and Verbal Relationships
- In order to make the meaning of the gospel evident, I used literary method. The access to meaning is via the relationships between the “verbs,” which I have magnified in the text, and the “nouns,” which I put in bold print.
- The most important verb, in verses 38-40, is the imperative (command) verb: Look away (βλέπετε ἀπὸ). This means, do not imitate or be influenced or guided by what the Scribes do. Why? Because they do not seek God, but themselves!
- The whole of verses 38-39 are governed by the verb – “desire.” This verb (desire) shows where the hearts of the Scribes are focused: they desire a) long robes, b) salutations, c) best seats, and d) places of honor; the Scribes worry about externalities. By implication, they do not seek God, but their own glory.
- In addition to the “desires” of the Scribes, in verses 38 and 39, verse 40 describes their sins, and God’s future judgment upon them: a) They devour widows’ houses/possessions, b) they say long prayers of pretence, and c) They will receive a severe sentence from God. In other words, anyone who is involved, here and now, in the exploitation of the poor, will meet with God’s severe (negative) judgment at the end of his/her life – such peoples are represented as the Scribes.
- In order to provide a model for Christians, Jesus compares a rich person with a widow. Notice that the attitude of the rich, in verses 41-44, is the same with those of the Scribes in verses 38-40: “Scribes” and “Rich” are not used by Jesus to say that the educated and the rich and powerful are all bad people, on the contrary, it is a category for all who fail to put their absolute trust in God – those who lack faith in God. This accounts for why a new category and nomenclature in used in verses 41-44 – the rich.
- The Rich, like the Scribes, devour the possessions of the poor and widow, but show off at Church donations to give the excess of their capital. Jesus does not approve of them.
- The Widow’s Mite was accepted and considered better than the Rich’s “large sums” because she gave her whole life, not just her possession. Therefore, God wants us to imitate her faith and trust in God.
Step III: Points for homily
- There is cause and effect in our gospel reading: Jesus approves of certain behaviors (that of the widow) and will condemn others in the future (those of the Scribes and the Rich), should there not be repentance on the part of the Rich and the Scribes.
- The Scribes were part of the educated class of Jesus’ time: supposedly, they knew the right way of living, but they fell for the goodies of life. Jesus shows that their way of life is wrong, so they cannot be models for Christians.
- The Scribes worried about externalities: power, position, etc, but that should not be the priority in a Christian’s life.
- Oppression of any kind should be avoided, especially of widows, orphans, etc, because God’s judgment will be severe upon all oppressors; our reading uses the Scribes and the Rich as representatives of all oppressors.
- Do we steal from the poor instead of give to the poor: the abundance from which we pretend to give God, during harvests and thanksgiving, how did we get it or what is the source of our wealth? The rich gave from their abundance, but Jesus had no regard for their offerings.
- The best gift we can give to God is that of our whole life, like the widow’s mite.
- Nobody is too poor not to have something he or she can give: the widow had her contribution to give – her two pennies; above all, her whole life.
- When we give, do we give with faith or in order to show off?