What is described in the Gospel Reading for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B, Mark 12:41-44 , took place, perhaps on Tuesday in the week of his death, shortly before giving what is known as the Olivette Discourse (Mark 13:5-37). In this Gospel narrative (Mark 12:41-44), Jesus contrasts rich people who put large amounts of money out of the excess of their wealth to a poor widow who put only two small coins in the Temple treasury. In terms of the amount measurable to the humans, the wealthy contributors put far more in the treasury for God, compared to what the widow put. But Jesus says that the widow gave for God more than the wealthy ones, because she put her whole livelihood, while the wealthy only gave out of the surplus of their wealth (Mark 12:43-44).
I wonder how this widow went on to live, as she gave all she had to live for herself in the Temple treasury for God. She no longer had anything to support herself. She became all alone, nothing.
But, if we see this widow, whom Jesus sees more
generous in giving for God, than those who are wealthy, in juxtaposition to a
Gentile widow at Zerephath of Sidon in the First Reading (1 Kings 17:10-16),
perhaps, the rest of her life was blessed by God for His Kingdom as an anav (Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20).
In the First Reading (1 Kings 17:10-16), during the
reign of king Ahab of Israel, Elijah was sent by God to the widow at Zerepath
on his first mission assignment, upon commanding her to provide him with food
(1 Kings 17:7-9). So, Elijah went as commanded by God to Zerepath and saw the
widow fathering sticks (1 Kings 17:10a) for cooking fire (1 Kings 17:12). And Elijah
asked the widow to give him a bit of water to drink and a piece of bread (1
Kings 17:10b-11). But, the widow was very poor and did not have any bread at
all, as all she had were a handful of flour and a little bit of oil to bake
bread for her and her son to live that day as their last day (1 Kings 17:12).
The widow’ s situation is quite pitiful. And Elijah
was asking her to give him what she had for her and her son for their last day
on earth.
Did Elijah said, “Never mind, lady. I didn’t know I
was asking you to give me water and bread even though you don’t have any bread”
and leave – so that she and her son could live that day before they would
starve to death?
No. As a matter of fact, Elijah asked her to
sacrifice all she had left, a scanty amount of flour and oil, for her and her
son, for their last day, for him.
Did the widow refuse?
No.
In asking, Elijah said to the widow:
Do
not be afraid. Go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake and
bring it to me. Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son.
For the Lord , the God of Israel, says: 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 (1 Kings 17:13-14).
In these words, Elijah was asking the widow to trust the God of Israel, though she was not a Jew, in giving up all she had for him, who was sent by the Lord, the God of Israel, on mission, to bless her with flour and oil to last, as God will send down rain to let wheat and olive to grow for flour and oil. Elijah was reminds this Gentile widow how the God of Israel is in His covenant with His beloved people – even a Gentile like her for her trust, which is what faith is about. This is why Elijah said, “Do not be afraid” for herself and her son, in giving up for a man sent by God all she had for her and her son. Elijah was also giving the widow a message that she and her son would not left in pitiful misery to die just because she sacrificed the last remaining livelihood of her and her son for Elijah, who was sent to her by the God of Israel.
So, she did as Elijah asked and sacrificed for him,
and she was blessed by the God of Israel, who sent Elijah to her, with abundant
flour and oil for food to live on for her and her household (1 Kings 17:15-16).
The sacrifice of the poor Gentile widow at Zerepath
for Elijah, a prophet sent by the God of Israel, did not go empty, as God
blessed her abundantly for what she did for His man, Elijah.
We can see the poor widow in the Gospel Reading
(Mark 12:41-44) being blessed by God greatly for the sacrifice of her
livelihood, in light of God’s blessings in abundance on the poor Gentile widow
at Zerepath for her sacrifice in prioritizing for Elijah, a man of God, over
herself and her son (1 Kings 17:10-16).
So, we can image anawim, like
these poor widows faithful to God in Mark 12:41-44 and 1 Kings 17:10-16,
praising God for His generous blessings on them for their sacrifices as their
act of faithfulness in the Responsorial Psalm (146:7, 8-9, 9-10).
What is exemplified by the poor widow at Zerepath
the First Reading (1 Kings 17:10-16) and the poor widow in the Temple in Gospel
Reading (Mark 12:41-44) calls us to examine how deep our faith in God is and
how it is demonstrated in our observance of what Jesus calls as the supreme
commandment (Mark 12:29-30): To love God with all our heart and with all our
soul (being) and with all our mind and with all our strength, He is one, our
God (Deuteronomy 6:4-5), and its observance is made complete by practicing the
second one: to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31; Leviticus 19:18; 1
John 4:20-21).
Do we truly love God with all our heart, with all
our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strengths, as commanded? Do we
love God unconditionally and as our priority, as the center of our life? Or are
we somewhat unfaithful to God for keeping something withheld for ourselves, not
even giving for our neighbors in need, while pretending as if we are as
faithful as observing the most important commandment to love God?
If we can give our whole livelihood without fear for
our own survival, then, God can judge us for observing the supreme commandment
to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with
all our strengths, nothing held back for ourselves, and reward us with His
blessings in abundance for the Kingdom, because this is how anawim are (i.e. 1 Kings 17:10-16; cf.
Matthew 5:3; Luke 6:20). And as the Second Reading (Hebrews 9:24-28) reminds
us, this is how God in the eternal high priest, Jesus the Christ (Hebrews
5:1-10), sacrificed for us once for all (Hebrews 7:27) to establish the new
covenant (Hebrews 8:8-13; cf. Luke 22:20). The God the Father first loved us,
sending His only begotten Son (John 3:16), who showed love of God by
sacrificing his life on the Cross – so that we can also perfectly observe the
supreme commandment to love God – in order to make the covenant new and
complete. For this, we strive in our
faith to give our whole livelihood to God and for what He wills on us,
withholding nothing for ourselves. This
is why Jesus demands us to love him more than anyone else (i.e. Luke 14:26) and
demanded the rich man to sell all of his possessions for the poor to follow him
for inheriting eternal life (Matthew 19:16-30//Mark 10:17-31//Luke 18:18-30).
So, does your faith-driven love for God deep and
strong enough to make you an anav,
giving up your whole livelihood for God and His will, for His abundant
blessings? And we must have our answer before Christ will return as the King
and the Judge.
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