Homily for the 32nd Sunday of OrdinaryTIme, November 10, 2024. Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Gospel of St. Mark 12:38-41. Theme: God is Never Outdone in Generosity
The stars of our readings this Sunday are both widows who are extremely generous in giving what little they have for the needs of others. Now in order for us 21st century Americans to truly appreciate why Jesus would elevate these widows as examples of trust and generosity in his Gospel stories, we need to know something about the culture of those times. In ancient Israel widows had no right to inheritance. They had no social standing nor recourse in their needs if they did not have an adult son or son in-law to take them in. A widow without a male protector and provider was often unhoused and unfed, wholly dependent upon the mercy of others.
In the first reading, we encounter a widow in the village of Zarephath who is on the brink of consuming her last morsels of food. Years of drought have taken their toll and she has next to nothing left in her pantry. Resigned to her fate, she then encounters the prophet Elijah who begs for something to drink and eat. And so she has a choice to make: ignore the suffering of another or relieve his hunger at a risk to herself and her little son. She is obviously a woman of faith who trusts that God will keep His promise of plenty through the words that Elijah has spoken to her. How would we respond in this situation? Like her, do we truly believe in our hearts and not just with our minds, that God knows us, cares about us as individuals and is attentive to our needs? It is this trust that frees her to be generous.
In the Gospel, Jesus praises a poor widow who puts all that she has to live on into the temple treasury for the poor. We are not told any other details about her but all we really need to know is that she is a widow, because that says it all, at least to those who first heard this story. They knew what those few coins meant for the woman. But we can deduce that she must not have had anyone to support her because Jesus says she gave all that she had to live on. And yet this widow wasn’t focused on herself and her situation. The Gospel shows us that she had compassion on others who were like her in their poverty. With a free and generous heart she contributed to their survival and trusted that God would somehow provide for her own needs.
So, we see that in these stories neither widow is focused on herself to the extent that she ignores the needs of others. And neither widow is greedy and fearful, clinging desperately to what little they have for their own needs. Instead, manifest a living trust in God that enables them to take a huge leap of faith. And both of them receive a reward from the God whom they love, trust and honor. The widow of Zarephath has her generosity returned to her by the ongoing miracle of the jar of flour and jug of oil that never become empty! We do not know the specific material reward, if any, that the Gospel widow received, but we do know that her trust in God and generosity to others has earned her a public spot as an all-star in the Gospels and Liturgy of the Church for 2,000 years!
The Bible teaches us that generosity is really more about trust and sacrifice than it is about particular sums of money. It is measured by the amount of love we have for God which shows itself in the amount of mercy we extend to others. A wealthy person can give vast amounts of money but yet still not be truly generous in God’s eyes because it is measured by the degree of mercy we have on the poor rather than by what particular dollar amount we write on a check. And no matter one’s income level, we can all fall prey to the temptation to hoard our resources and justify closing in ourselves and our own needs.
The Scriptures and the saints are all unanimous in telling us that God will never ever be outdone in generosity. And this is the fundamental lesson that today’s two widows teach us. The more we give to God - and by extension that means to our neighbor in need - the more He will bless us and provide us with what we truly need. The trouble is that oftentimes what we consider necessary is in actuality superfluous. We so often misidentify and confuse our wants with our actual needs. Slick advertising tells us to “buy, buy, buy” if we want to find happiness. But the Word of God tells us to “give, give, give” and we will experience the ultimate joy that never ends and receive what we truly need in return.
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