“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

Dear Preachers:

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.