11 November 2018 / 32nd Sunday Ordinary Time, Year B
•• 1 Kings 17:10-16 • Psalm 146
•• Hebrews 9:24-28 •• + Mark 12:38-44 ••
•• Title: Why?
The gift.
[__01_] Why?
The gift.
Several years ago, I prepared a guest
list for a family party / celebration. Reconsidering the guest list sometime
afterwards, I realized that I had been in the wrong, it was an oversight. An
important guest has not been included, not been invited.
[__02_] Seeking
to correct the problem, I thought would help if I sent a Christmas gift to this
family member, someone to whom I would normally not send such a gift.
The gift was received gratefully.
We are still speaking to each other.
The gift was my “device” … my
solution, something I came up with – more or less – on my own.
So, the gift – in an everyday sense
was my act of sorrow, my act of contrition, and I was able to engineer this on
my own. And, good news, it worked.
And, with small everyday errors or
faults, we can do things on our own to correct a situation, to make amends for
a fault, for a wrong
I was able to do this because my
offense was minor. I did not have to
part with or sacrifice very much. I also believed in my own solution that it
would work. It was not an act of spiritual faith but more of a mental
calculation.
[__03_] It is
not exactly clear – it is not explicitly stated – why the widow of the Temple
sacrifices or gives so much, such a great percentage of what she has to the
Temple offering.
For
example , we may read this when we are solicited for a gift …or we may be motivated
to give when we know that our name will be a published showing my level. I want
my peers to recognize me.
Or, I may be told exactly what is the efficacy or
effectiveness of my gift … For example, if I see that giving $25 to an
organization will provide clean drinking water to a village for a week, but a
$75 donation will provide it for a month, I may be motivated to increase my
gift. Specifying benefits will often push a donor to the next level, especially
if he sees that his money will stretch further at higher levels. (https://nonprofithub.org/fundraising/keys-setting-donor-levels-may-need-rethink/)
What pushes this donor to the next
level? This widow to such a high level of generosity?
FAITH.
[__04_] So many have given sacrificially – and so many
still do – give sacrificially to Our
Lady of Lourdes with time, money, energy, enthusiasm, prayers, catechesis – and
have given large percentages of their goods.
These are acts of faith
So, if you were to entrust – or donate
something of great value to LOURDES, then this becomes of great value to
LOURDES.
Similarly, if a parent entrusts a
child to teacher / school, the school must also value the child. It does not
matter how many other children are in the school or how many other children are
in the family. These are acts of faith.
What pushes this woman at the Temple
treasury to such a high level of generosity? She gives all that she has.
FAITH.
It is not that she wants to be recognized by her peers, by her equals, by her
college or grad-school classmates, or by her neighbors. In fact, Jesus’ point
is that no one is noticing her at all because everyone else is depositing large
sums, large payments – they are getting noticed. They are wearing yellow
wristbands, if that is still a thing…
Only the Lord sees her gift.
It is not that she donates because of
the immediate efficacy or effectiveness. Surely, she knows, objectively – in
pure monetary terms that her gift is small in magnitude.
But, she knows her gift is valued.
The widow makes the gift – in faith –
with the faith and understanding that her salvation is not based on a peer
review or a philanthropy report.
Nor is your salvation or mine based on
immediately verifiable results.
[__05_] Yes,
there are situations that I may be able to fix by making a gift that is recognized, welcomed,
published. I may even get a thank-you note. Those are good things.
But, they are not meant to make me
satisfied in stillness and complacency.
[__06_] I may
encounter – you may encounter – situations or relationships or difficult people
or relationships in which we are called to …
·
LOVE our enemies
·
PRAY for those who persecute us
·
BEAR WRONGS patiently
·
PROTECT the dignity and sanctity of a
person’s life
·
PROTECT the dignity and sanctity of a
person’s reputation.
These are situations that I might not
be able to fix or solve – immediately.
And, to receive mercy or to understand
God’s mercy, we need prayers such as the Rosary to meditate on the mysteries of
Christ’s life, the intercession of Jesus for those in need of his mercy,
prayers such as the Divine Mercy chaplet which remind us that God’s mercy is
not just for the legally knowledgeable / bar-admitted / scribe by for the whole
world.
In Sunday Mass, in our prayers and
meditations, we are called to recognize that the solutions and reconciliations
do not rest solely in ourselves but in God’s work in which we participate.
Nevertheless, we are called to give,
each day, 100 %. [__fin_]
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