First Reading: 1 Kings 17: 10-16
Responsorial Psalm 146
Second Reading: Hebrews 9: 24-28
Gospel Mark 12: 38-44
The liturgy today invites us to reflect on what it means to trust in God and to respond to Him with true generosity. This is very important in a materialistic society that measures each person’s value in economic terms, where the poor are written off as worthless. But God who sees the heart of all men judges differently.
All three readings speak about generosity: sacrificial giving, the offering of all. The first reading recounts the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath during a severe drought. This widow had only a handful of flour and a little oil in her jug. It was all she had to live on. She was going to prepare it for herself and her son and then wait for their death. Then came the prophet of God. He asked her to prepare food for him first and not to be afraid for “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.”
Despite her dire situation, she shares her last bit of food with the prophet. For believing in the words of the prophet and sharing her food, her jar of flour and jug of oil did not run dry as the prophet had said but sustained her and her son and the prophet throughout the drought. Her willingness to share her last meal with the prophet demonstrates her profound faith and trust in God’s provision. She teaches us to trust in God’s promises even when circumstances seem bleak and difficult. The miracle of the never-ending flour and oil symbolizes God’s abundant provision and reminds us that God can provide for our needs in unexpected ways when we act with faith. It calls us to trust in God’s miraculous provision and live generously no matter our circumstances.
In the gospel today, Jesus contrasts the wealth, prestige and the external desire for recognition and praise with interior charity, generosity and love for God. He saw rich people putting large amounts into the collection box, but he was not impressed. It was not because they were not putting large sums. Jesus was looking something else. He saw that something else in the poor widow who put in two small copper coins worth only a few cents. Jesus used the opportunity to teach his disciples and indeed all of us a very important lesson about generosity. Generosity is not about the quantity of what we give, it is more about the quality of our giving, it is more about the sacrifice and the love that we put into the giving. He said, “They (the rich) have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, (the widow) from her poverty has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.” Like the widow of Zarephath she gave all she had to live on. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.” In the eyes of man, the offering of the widow is worthless but in the eyes of God, the value of her offering far exceeds the offering of the rich who gave out of their surplus.
In the offering of this widow, she became an icon of Christ himself who is the supremely generous one, who we are told in the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, as priest, sacrificed himself for us all. The effect of the generous sacrifice of Christ continues to reach us in the Holy Eucharist where he not only gives us himself but invites us to be united with him by offering ourselves.
True offering to God is the one where we give our all: heart, soul, mind and body, where our offering becomes a testimony that we love God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind and strength and a witness of our dependence on God.
Happy Sunday,
Fr Chidi Onwuka, m.ss.cc