Homily
for the Thirty-Second Sunday of the Year (B) (8th November, 2015) on
the Gospel
1Kg
17:10-16;
Ps
145:7-10 (R.V. 2);
Heb
9:24-28;
Mk 12:38-44 or Mk 12:41-44.
Today’s gospel is made up of two parts (teachings): Jesus’ denunciation of the Scribes (Mk 12:38-40) and The widow’s offering better known as Widow’s mite (Mk 12:41-44).
In today’s Mass, the second part of the gospel can either be read alone or
together with the first part. We present two homilies based on these two parts
of the gospel. This homily is on the widow’s mite.
Let us begin with the story of a juggler in the Middle
Ages who was juggling his coloured balls and pins in the marketplace when some
monks came by. The juggler expressed his desire to be a monk. The monks said,
‘What can you do?’ The juggler said, ‘I juggle.’ The monks said, ‘Well, you
will have to change your ways.’
The juggler became Brother Lawrence in the monastery.
Years passed and one Christmas the monks decided that each one would present a
masterpiece to the infant Jesus. All but Lawrence came up with an idea. But on
Christmas Eve Lawrence locked himself in the church. The monks thought he had
gone mad. They ran up to the choir loft and looked down. There was Lawrence
juggling before the crib scene. [to be
completed later]. Culled from Fuller, G. (2010). Stories for all seasons. Mumbai:
St Pauls, p. 97.
Topic: Widow’s mite.
Often while people give, many including those
who go to church and those who do not even believe in God normally refer to
what they are giving as widow’s mite. And in today’s gospel (second part) we
see that widow many refer to: Jesus watched the crowd putting money into the
treasury. “41bMany rich
people put in large sums. 42A
poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny” (Mk 12 41b-42).
Imagine what the scenario would be like. Surely
many who knew what the
poor widow put into the treasury would blame her at least for disturbing those
who were putting large sums. Yet the gospel reads further:
“43Then
he called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow
has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44For all of them have
contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in
everything she had, all she had to live on’” (Mk 12:43-44).
An offering therefore is not and
cannot be correctly tagged ‘widows mite’ based on the amount given but based on
the amount the giver has. Hence, William Barclay rightly draws some lessons from
this poor widow’s offering which include:
i. “Real giving must be sacrificial.
The amount of the gift never matters so much as its cost to the giver, not the
size of the gift, but the sacrifice. Real generosity gives until it hurts. For
many of us it is a real question if ever our giving to God’s work is any
sacrifice at all....
ii. “Real giving has a certain
recklessness in it. The woman might have kept one coin. It would not have been
much but it would have been something, yet she gave everything she had”
(Barclay, W. (2006). The daily study bible: The gospel of Mark.
Bangalore: Theological Publications in India, pp. 302-303).
As one decides to give to God, one
must recall that question posited by Saint Paul: “... What have you that you
did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if it were not a
gift?” (1Cor 4:7). And the Psalmist
correctly writes: “Truly no man can ransom himself, or give to God the price of
his life” (Ps 49:7). We ought to offer
to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and pay our vows to the Most High (Ps 50:14). We must be grateful and
offer acceptable sacrifice to God, cf. Heb
12:28.
Often ministers in the Lord’s
vineyard especially those working in rural areas complain bitterly that the
people do not bring much as offerings, tithes, donations, and so on. Dear
brethren, probably in the eyes of the disciples and others the poor widows
offering is nonsense but not in the eyes of Jesus (God) who knows everything,
cf. 1Jn 3:20. In as much as it is
good for the people to give, ministers must be cautious because the people are
to offer what they have. What a minister condemns might be pleasing to God. And
the letter to the Hebrews read: “Keep your life free from love of money, and be
content with what you have; for he has said, ‘I will never fail you nor forsake
you’ (Heb 13:5). And again, Saint
Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians correctly writes: “the gift is
acceptable according to what one has–not according to what one does not have” (2Cor 8:12). And more importantly,
people offer to God and not to you, the minster. It is God who knows how much
he has given to each person. So why do you complain? That story from Fuller’s
work ends with these words: They [the monks] were going to go down and seize
him [the juggler] as berserk. But as Lawrence finished his juggling, the monks
saw the infant in the manger reach out with a smile. Lawrence had given his all
(p. 97).
My dear people of God both the clergy
and the laity, ensure that what you give is in relation to what God has blessed
you with. This is because sometimes we complain that others are not giving or
doing enough whereas we ourselves are even guiltier than they are. The juggler
has only juggling, why do people complain today that they have nothing to offer
to God and their neighbours? We are
different parts of Christ’s Body, (cf. 1Cor
12:12, 14; Eph 5:30) and are differently gifted for the common good, cf. 1Cor 12:7. We all must give up what we
have for the good of all.
Bible Readings: 1Cor 12:1-30; 2Cor 8:1-15; Heb 12:14-28; 13:5-6; Ps 49:5-20.
Silent Prayer:
Do you give to God and to others sacrificially?
Let us pray: God our Father, help us to offer to
you and to our neighbours in relation to what we have – Amen.
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