Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
There are two stories in today’s reading and they both involve poor widows. In the first story, Elijah, as he flees from his murderous enemies, seeks refuge with a poor widow. The story tells us that she and her son had only and handful of flour and a little oil left. They were desperately poor. The second story tells us about Jesus’ admiration of a poor widow who put in two small coins into the treasury. The two coins were all she had. These two thought-provoking stories made me think… If Elijah was looking for respite today, would he come to my house? And why? Of all the people gathered in this church today, who would Christ take notice of? Could it be me or you?
Let me draw three practical implications from today’s readings:
1. Being Like the Poor. In both the Old and the New Testaments, the poor find a very special mention. The Hebrew people were slaves when God chose to rescued them. Mary, the mother of Jesus was a poor girl from a poor family. During his ministry Jesus hung out with the poorest and underserved of them all. Jesus himself was poor. He was born in a stable, fled as an immigrant, and lived the simple life of an itinerant. When I look at myself, I find that I am not poor. I am not rich but I certainly am not poor. I return to my earlier question - if Elijah had to come today, would he come to me? If God was looking for someone to accomplish an important task would God choose me? I don’t know the answer to this question but I think that scripture is telling me that even if I am not poor, I must be like the poor. Luke said, “Blessed are the poor,” and Matthew said. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” What does it mean to be like the poor or being poor in spirit?
2. Poor In Spirit. The second reading from Hebrews provides us an answer to the question we ended the first point with. The author of Hebrews tells us about high-priests who would enter into the holy of holies in the temple of Jerusalem to offer the blood of animals as sacrifice. And then came along Jesus. He did not end up in the temple but on the cross. He did not offer the blood of animals but his own life as a sacrifice. He was not just making an offering. He was giving everything he had – his last breath and his very last drop of blood – to God. He was the Son of God. The earth on which he walked was created through him. And yet, Jesus lay did not lay claim to his divinity. His life was completely, totally and radically available for God. And that is what it means to be poor or poor in Spirit. To be poor means that we recognize that everything we have is a gift from God. Your spouse, my priesthood, our families, our world, our labor, our homes our savings, our health, our capabilities and our faith… to be poor means that we, like Jesus, we do not lay claim to any of it, but rather, that all that we have and all that we are we can be completely, totally and radically be available to God.
3. Avoiding Idolatry. Jesus in today’s reading from Hebrews teaches us one other virtue. When he came to us as a man he lived like we do. Even though he was God, he recognized that without his Father, he was nothing. When Satan tempted him in the desert with power, glory and the possibility to be like God, he resisted because then it would be idolatry. And this is a huge lesson for us. To limit God from what is God’s gift to us in the first place is the equivalent of idolatry. Selfishness is a form of idolatry. That was the problem with the scribes in today’s gospel reading. They wanted places of honor. Even their donation to the temple was for self-gain. This is idolatry. In contrast when the poor widows made themselves totally available, God was able to work wonders through them. Jesus too, because he lay his life at the altar of the cross he was able to save us all. So I want to repeat the question I asked before. If God was looking for someone to do an important work would God choose you or me? The answer depends on how much like the poor widows or poor in sprit we are willing to be.
As we celebrate this Eucharist, we do not offer silver or gold. We offer simple bread and ordinary wine. That is what Jesus has asked us to do. And see what God can do with them. They become for us the means of our salvation. May be become what we eat and drink. Amen.
- Fr. Satish Joseph