SUNDAY NOVEMBER 10, 2024
SUNDAY OF THE THIRTY SECOND WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME B
1 King 17:10-16
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
CHRISTIAN GENEROUS GIVING: A MANDATE AND A JOY
Let us take a clue from some successful givers and generous heart who we know and have shown that the Christian life is all about giving. One of such persons is mother Theresa of Calcutta. Born to Albanian parents of Yugoslavia and later joined the Order of Nuns of Loreto which took her to India. In this order, she discovered her vocation and was granted permission to begin her own little charity called missionary sisters of Charity which has borne so much fruits of over 4,500 sisters and brothers, 755 homes for the children, the sick, the destitute and the dying, and over 1,369 medical clinics. This woman started from a very humble beginning of begging for the sake of the poor and giving all to the needy.
Another woman is Saint Elizabeth Seton who initially was a very wealthy person married to William Seton a wealthy businessman. With five children, Elizabeth lost her husband and had to take care of these five children. So at 30, Elizabeth became widowed and poor with no means of livelihood. Being abandoned by her friends and family members because she converted from her Episcopalian church to catholicism she moved to Maryland in USA and arrive hard to support her children opened a school in Baltimore with the support of friends, which grew and and later founded the first American religious community for women, Sister of Charity. She opened the first American parish school and also the first American Catholic Orphanage. She did all these while bringing up her five children.
Here we are talking about persons who generously offered their lives and sacrificially endured from nothing to greatness because of their love of humanity and spirit of generosity.
In the gospel of today, Jesus makes a very strong case against the greedy, proud and arrogant lifestyle of the Pharisees with the scribes whom he describes in a very derogative terms as devouring the goods of the widows and the poor and making their lives an imposition and oppressive to the poor people. And Jesus condemns this lifestyle and warns us against living such life.
And Jesus goes ahead to offer the disciple the best lifestyle and value that they should always aspire to uphold. The act of watching those putting money into the treasury of the temple is one that brings about great lesson for us today. And noticing this poor widow, Jesus uses the attitude and the giving of the widow to instruct his disciples on the need never to expect but to give. And to give not so much in quantity but in quality.
We must recall that widowhood represents the lowest strata of the human family. So the widow in the gospel is the weakest link, the picture of poverty and deprivation, she stands for the most vulnerable in the society and the less privileged, the poorest of the poor, the ‘Anawins’. Yet, this poor woman is expected to give. So nobody should be excused from giving or being generous.
The widow is also found in the first reading of today presenting to the prophet Elijah food to quench his hunger at the request of the prophet. And the most striking part is that, this widow had only the last share of food for herself and her child. The same widow in the gospel had the last two coins to live on, though worthless as the coins may represent, yet the most costly and expensive giving it has become in the eye of our God and the estimation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the two widows in the readings of today, we observe that their gifts were gratuitously and freely given. In the case of the widow of Zarephath, she held the belief that as the prophet had said, abundance will flourish and nothing will be spent. And so it was that the widow never lacked and she was rewarded for her giving and uncommon generously.
And the narrative Jesus saw in the temple as he watched those giving offering at the temple that only the widow gave all that she had to live on. While others were giving from their excesses, this widow from all she had gave it all into the treasury. And Jesus praised her, extolled her virtue of giving all and promised her a reward for it.
It drives home the point that the Christian life is all about the quality of what we give. It does not just say give as it is already a mandate. But it speaks more of the quality of our giving. Because all others at the temple gave much more than this widow but hers was recognized because she gave “all” that she had to live on.
What do we give to the Lord? It is not about the amount or the quantity but more importantly also the attitude, the quality and the impression we have or nurse in giving. These widows gave all, they gave sacrificially and entirely all that they had. They gave their entire life.
The second reading gives us the example of what Jesus himself offered to the Father for our redemption. Jesus offered himself. He gave himself. He gave it all. He did not hold back. He gave his life. He died. He suffered and he used his giving to teach us the right things to give. What can you give?
We are called to give to God and to humanity ourselves and our lives. All that belong to us should be given, our time, talent and treasures. From what sources do we give? From all sources we gain our livelihood.
Now whom do we give? We give to the church, as the church is the vehicle to convey the blessings and teaching of Christ. We must equally give to those in need, to those who ask of our help genuinely and we give to causes that are worthy for the greater good of our human family.
Jesus differentiates for us the point of giving what we have left over and giving sacrificially. He advocates giving all that we have. So our giving must be significant, taking away from us the best chunk of ourselves. We give to hurt, to torch our lives. We must loose something when we give. Our giving must be sacrificial. We do not just give from our abundance. We give both from our wants and our needs together and that makes giving as a Christian different. The philanthropist and Christian charity should be chiefly differentiated by the spirit of Christ in it. The spirit of sacrifice and selflessness, the spirit of cheerfulness and faith in God. We give until it hurts and takes all away from you.
Worse giving is giving to be praised, to be honoured, to buy the admiration of others, to be seen as a good person or to attract human accolade. Again, Our giving must be secret and unannounced, personal and spiritual, faith motivated and with cheerfulness. The widow gave not thinking of where the next meal will come from, and that is giving in faith. This is what Jesus expects from all of us.
The joy of giving always carries its rewards. God never abandons us nor forgets us. But God rewards every generosity abundantly. The widows never lacked and will never lack again.
God our Father, you gave us your Son Jesus Christ, who teaches us today how to give. Help us to be generous to humanity, to the Church and to people around us. As you hear and answer our prayers, supplying all our needs and blessings us each day, may we also be so to others without counting the cost through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
