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“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
32nd SUNDAY (B)
November 10, 2024
1 Kings: 17:10-16; Psalm 146;
Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44
by Jude Siciliano, OP |
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Dear Preachers:
PRE-NOTE: As the number of executions increases in
our country please pray for an end to the death penalty. Also, please consider
dropping a card to one of the inmates we list each week at the end of these
reflections. In your message you might assure them of your prayers.
There was a drought in Israel. (Perhaps not unlike the current drought in
Africa.) All people suffered its consequences, not only the Jews, but their
pagan neighbors as well. God sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, a Gentile.
That is a consistent theme in the Hebrew Scriptures: God’s concern for the
powerless. The widow and her child would be the most vulnerable; she has no
husband to help and protect her and her son. God does what God always does: sees
those most in need and responds.
Initially, Elijah does not make a good first impression on the needy widow. She
was gathering wood for a fire to cook her last meal for herself and her son.
Elijah did not immediately help her. In fact, he added to the burden she was
already bearing by asking for water, in a time of drought and for bread from her
diminished supplies! He seems demanding. But Elijah is inviting her to faith: if
she makes him the bread he asked for, God will miraculously provide for her and
her son throughout the famine. The widow does not have much, but if she gives up
what little she has, God will provide for her. She has no visible proof this is
so, but she puts faith in Elijah’s assurance of God’s care for her.
We may not have much to offer in service to God. But are we willing to give what
little we have to experience God working with us, through our resources, as
little as they may be? Can we think of a time when we did just as the widow did,
gave not from our surplus, but from what was essential for us. In doing so we
might have even ignored our own needs.
Did we give generously, not only from our money, but from our gifts of time and
talent, because we saw a greater need. For example: in our marriage, a
friendship, our local community, our church family? It is hard to give with the
kind of generosity we see in the widow in the Temple whom Jesus says gave, “…
all she had, her whole livelihood.” It is very hard to give with the generosity
the widow showed. Her generosity is striking. I tend to want to hold back
something, “just in case.” On the other hand. the widow gave the very last of
what they had.
In the gospel scene Jesus is watching people come and go. He is at the women’s
court where there were 13 trumpet-shaped containers into which people dropped
their offerings. Imagine the sound the widow’s two small coins made. While the
clanging of the wealthy’s money would certainly have drawn attention. The sound
difference would have been a marker that the widow’s offering was puny. Don’t
you think that she felt self-conscious and humbled before others?
Jesus has been in controversies with the religious elite, who held power among
the people. He rebukes them for building their power and wealth, even the Temple
itself, on the backs of the poor. “They devour the houses of widows….” The
widow’s gift will go for the upkeep of the Temple. Ironically, at the time of
the gospel of Mark, the temple had been, or was about to be, destroyed.
Jesus took his disciples aside criticizing the source of the offerings. The rich
contributed from their surplus, while the widow gave from all she had, “...her
whole livelihood.” The woman’s giving was heroic. It also reflected Christ’s
heroic gift of himself for our sins. She was not looking for a reward. She just
placed all she had into God’s hands. It is clear from Jesus’ words the God
noticed. Soon Jesus will make his total offering to God as well, and God will
notice. Jesus is like the widow in the gospel, giving all in faith to God.
Jesus praised the widow who, in her community, would have been insignificant.
But her small gift is recognized by Jesus and, in effect, is blessed. We are
about to bring our own gifts to the altar – bread, wine and the fruits of the
collection from the community. They are gifts in themselves, but they also
represent the gift of ourselves. Along with the bread and wine, we place
ourselves on the altar and pray that the Spirit, who changes them into the body
and blood of Christ, will also receive and change our lives into Christ’s
presence in the world. Like Christ, through the Spirit, we make a generous gift
of ourselves in service to others in Christ’s name.
The Pharisees sought the esteem of others by wearing in public the same garments
they wore in the synagogues. They wanted people to admire them as prayerful and
hoped to be treated special. This show of piety would earn them front seats in
the synagogues. It would also draw attention to themselves at banquets and where
they would receive seats of honor. They may have been vain, but that was not
immoral in Jesus’ eyes? No, what Jesus condemns is that they swindled money from
widows. (Today’s scam artists do that through phone calls and the Internet.) To
make matters worse they took possession of widow’s property in the name of
religion.
We began November with the celebration of All Saints and the Commemoration of
All Souls. They remind us that, at some date, near or far off in the future, we
will be asked not to hold anything back, but to give at the moment of our death
all we have to the Lord. These are joyful and sobering feasts that remind us to
celebrate the goodness of our lives and to offer our lives back to God who gave
them to us. In the light of these festivals we do our best to hold nothing back
in our service to God. In order to make a total gift of ourselves to God at our
ending, we practice now growing in generosity in how we love God and serve one
another.
So now, what is holding us back and what shall we let go of? We are grateful for
the Word of God and the Eucharist we are celebrating, for they can do for us
what we cannot do on our own: transform us into self giving vessels, overflowing
with God’s grace and love for all people.
Click here for a link to this
Sunday’s readings:
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111024.cfm
ONE GOOD
BOOK FOR THE PREACHER
PREACHING IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD: ENLIVENING THE
SCRIPTURAL IMAGINATION ed. Michael E. Connors, SCS (Liturgy
Training Publications, 2024)
Essays by scholars and experienced preachers from
a variety of perspectives. The fruits from a major conference at Notre Dame
University. The presenters on the ways the biblical text informs and guides
preaching. An excellent summary of issues that challenge the contemporary
preacher.
JUSTICE BULLETIN
BOARD
The Lord keeps faith forever,
secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry.
Psalm 146: 7
November--the month of giving thanks for the
harvest. Yet, the harvest of food remains out of reach for many in our abundant
land and throughout the world. One of the documents from Vatican Council II
states, “The council asks individuals and governments to remember the saying of
the Fathers: “Feed the people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them
you are killing them,” and urges all, according to their ability, to share and
dispose of their goods to help others, above all by giving them aid which will
enable them to help and develop themselves” (Gaudium et Spes , 69). This
document was written almost sixty years ago and is even more relevant today as
we see in the 2009 writing of Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI: “‘Feed the hungry’
(cf. MT 25: 35, 37, 42) is an ethical imperative for the universal Church as she
responds to the teachings of her Founder, the Lord Jesus, concerning solidarity
and the sharing of goods. Moreover, the elimination of world hunger has also, in
the global era, become a requirement for safeguarding the peace and stability of
the planet” (Caritas in Veritate , 27). You see, it is not weapons that will
give security to the planet but food and the ability for self-development.
1. What can parishioners do? The tool is a
three-pronged fork: 1. Help prepare and serve food for one of our
ministries--Helen Wright Women’s Shelter dinners, Oak City suppers, or Women’s
Center lunches.
2. Contribute funds for the purchase of food for
our Catholic Parish Outreach food pantry. You can also purchase Fair Trade
products at area groceries to help third world farmers.
3. Join in advocating to end hunger and work to create a more just world. This
is probably the area where we can have the most impact and what we often do the
least. One of the best advocacy groups is Bread for the World as it brings
people from many faith traditions to be a collective Christian voice in urging
our nation’s decision makers to change the policies and conditions that allow
hunger to persist.
This month, every time you pray the “Our Father” contemplate that we pray for
‘our daily bread.’ Then, take action, as “a way has to be found to enable
everyone to benefit from the fruits of the earth” (Pope Francis 6/20/13).
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS,
Director
Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus
Cathedral, Raleigh, NC
FAITH BOOK
Mini-reflections on the Sunday
scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also
brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.
From today’s I Kings’ reading:
Elijah said to the widow,
“The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry
until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.”
Reflection:
“Drought” in the Bible is a reminder that calls
our attention to those in dire circumstances, in need of: the basics of food and
shelter; a voice of encouragement; a welcome into places that have barred or
ignored them; an appreciation of their gifts; a recognition of their dignity as
God’s children, etc.
So we ask ourselves:
Who are the contemporary “widows and orphans.”
Shall we help them by contributing to today’s
Catholic Campaign for Human Development?
POSTCARDS TO
DEATH ROW INMATES
“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to
the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in
whatever form it is carried out." ---Pope Francis
Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people
in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’
names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to
let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their
families; or, whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If
the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.
Please write to:
-
Johnny Parker #0311936 (On death row since
3/24/1997)
-
Leroy Mann #0255136 (7/15/1997)
-
Christopher Roseboro #0352024
----Central Prison P.O. 247 Phoenix,
MD 21131
Please note: Central Prison is in
Raleigh, NC., but for security purposes, mail to inmates is processed through a
clearing house at the above address in Maryland.
For more information on the Catholic position on
the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network:
http://catholicsmobilizing.org/resources/cacp/
On this page you can sign “The National Catholic
Pledge to End the Death Penalty.” Also, check the interfaith page for People of
Faith Against the Death Penalty: http://www.pfadp.org/
DONATIONS
“First Impressions” is a service to
preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by
the Dominican Friars. If you would like “First Impressions” sent weekly to a
friend, send a note to Fr. John Boll, OP at
jboll@opsouth.org.
If you would like to support this ministry, please
send tax deductible contributions to fr. Jude Siciliano, O.P.:
St. Albert Priory, 3150 Vince Hagan
Drive, Irving, Texas 75062-4736
Make checks payable to: Dominican Friars.
Or, go to our webpage to make an online donation:
https://www.PreacherExchange.com/donations.htm
RESOURCES
ORDERING OUR
CDs:
We have compiled Four CDs for sale:
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Individual CDs for each Liturgical Year, A, B
or C.
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One combined CD for “Liturgical Years A, B and
C.
If you are a preacher, lead a Lectionary-based
scripture group, or are a member of a liturgical team, these CDs will be helpful
in your preparation process. Individual worshipers report they also use these
reflections as they prepare for Sunday liturgy.
You can order the CDs by going to our webpage:
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and clicking on the “First Impressions” CD
link on the left.
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Impressions. To subscribe or Send your own reflections: Send them to "Fr.
John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net
> Your contributions to Volume 2 are welcome.
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