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Thirty-second Sunday – Year B – Ordinary Time
Readings: 1 Kgs 17:10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44.
1/ First Reading (1 Kgs 17:10-16): In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath.
As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her,
“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.”
She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then 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.'”
She left and did as Elijah had said.
She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
2/ Second Reading (Heb 9:24-28): Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world.
But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.
Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
3/ Gospel (Mk 12:38-44): In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
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I. THEME: God demands us to sacrifice our whole life to serve Him and others.
Today, many people are afraid to sacrifice because it affects their body, will and leisure time; but if all people are afraid and live selfishly, how can this world be maintained, not mentioning how to improve individual and social life! The true love demands one to sacrifice all he has, not giving only his surplus. People can only evaluate a person’s sacrifice by outside material; but God evaluates him by his inside intention, that are his faith and love for God and others. The most perfect sacrifice a person can offer is his own life, as Jesus said: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).
Today readings emphasize heroic sacrifices of lofty souls, even they must sacrifice their own life. In the first reading, the author reported the faith and sacrifice of a Gentile widow at Zareptha. She courageously sacrificed her last handful flour and few drops of oil to make a last cake for prophet Elijah, her, and her son, though she knew that after eating this last cake, she and her son could be died due to hungry. The wonderful effect of her faith in the prophet’s word is she and her son have flour and oil to live until the day which God makes rain falling on the earth. In the second reading, due to Jesus’ precious sacrifice in which He poured out His blood on the cross, people are purified from their sins and live eternally. In the Gospel, Jesus teaches His disciples to have the divine eyes to evaluate rightly human acts. The worldly people are easily deceived by showy and outside acts; but Jesus’ disciples must see deeply and evaluate according to inside intentions though the outside acts seem to be normal and base acts.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ First Reading: Charity requires one must sacrifice even confronting the death.
1.1/ God’s wonderful providence for prophet Elijah: To clearly understand today’s passage, one needs to read the whole chapter 17 of the First Book of Kings. God let the drought to happen during which there is no rain nor dew falling down in Israel for three years, because the king and the Israelites forfeited God and worshiped idols and acted according to their own ways. Only Elijah was commanded by God to move to a valley so that he can drink water from a fall and have food from ravens. When the fall was dried up, God told him to come to Zareptha, a Gentile town, to be fed by a widow.
He stood up and went to Zareptha. When he came to the city’s gate, he saw a widow who are collecting dried branches. He called her and said: “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it. He called her again and said: “Please bring along a bit of bread.” She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
1.2/ The widow’s faith in prophet Elijah’s words: Nothing is more terrible than hungry. Many people still remember the dreadful famine which happened in Vietnam from October 1944 to late 1945. There are about from seven hundred thousand to two million deaths from this famine. No one wants to give because they must take care of their family. This widow was put in a very difficult situation because the prophet’s request affects her and her son’s life.
(1) The prophet Elijah’s reaction: Elijah, clearly knowing of God’s power and of her terrible situation, still said to her: “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then 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.'”
(2) The Zareptha widow’s reaction: Her reaction is a heroic act because her deep faith in the prophet because she did not know God’s plan as prophet Isaiah. She left and did as Elijah said though she knew that both she and her son could be died of hunger after that.
God always tests and rewards those who believe in Him and help others. The author reported the happy ending: “She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.” Moreover, God also revived her son though Elijah’s breath after he was already dead.
2/ Second Reading: Christ sacrificially poured out His blood to redeem people.
2.1/ Christ’s unique sacrifice: The author of the Letter to the Hebrews compares Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary with the High Priest’s sacrifice every year in the Holy of the Holies in the Day of Atonement, and recognizes the following differences:
(1) The places are different: He writes: “Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf.” The most holy place which Jesus enters is no longer the Jerusalem Temple; but the heavens which is the sacred place of God.
(2) Christ’s sacrifice happened only once on Mount Calvary, but its effect is eternal. The author writes: “Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.” The animals’ blood can only take away the lesser sins and must be repeated many times; but the Son of God’s blood has power to take away all the sins even though it is poured out once.
2.2/ Christ voluntarily dies to bring salvation for all people: When deciding to do any work, Christ and all prudent people consider its effects. These are the effects of Christ’s sacrifice:
(1) God’s wills are fulfilled which are salvation for all people. God does not want people to die; but to live happily and eternally with Him in heaven.
(2) Christ is not died forever; but resurrected after three days and He shall be the king for all people.
(3) People’s sins are forgiven, and they are reconciled with God. They shall not be died forever; but they shall also be resurrected and reach the ultimate goal which is a happy and eternal life with the Trinity.
Because of these effects, Christ was ready to be incarnated, went through His passion, death, and resurrection. He knows He shall bring good results for His Father, Himself, and all people. Moreover, He knows His sufferings are only temporal; but their results shall last forever as the author writes: “Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.”
This must be the lesson for us to follow: Many people complain that if they keep sacrificing, they shall be suffered or died! Christ teaches us that if we have to sacrifice to the point of accepting death to benefit God and others, we also must accept because death is not the end. God shall give us back our life and reward us what we sacrificed for people. Countless saints poured out their blood or sacrificed their whole life for God and others because they understood Christ’s philosophy of life. If a person fears he has to die for other and lives selfishly, he still has to face death, and he shall be judged by God according to what he didn’t do for others. We only have one life to demonstrate our faith and love for God and others, let live a way that benefits God, ourselves, and others.
3/ Gospel: “She, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
3.1/ Do not judge people according to their outside actions: Vietnamese has an adage: “the dress does not make one to become a monk.” It means: to be called a real monk, one must live according to the laws of a monk; not only wearing a monk’s dress. In today passage, Jesus displays bad habits of those who used their religious dresses to earn their profits: “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
Those people can deceive naïve minds; but can’t deceive God who knows all secret things in their minds. They shall be strictly judge because they misuse of religion for their selfish gain.
3.2/ Judge people according to their inside intention and situation: Christ teaches his disciples not only they should not judge according to worldly standards; but also how to look deep into people’s soul through people’s contribution in the Temple.
(1) Judging according to worldly standard: Many people were deceived and praised those who contributed much money into the money-box and concluded that they are generous with God; but Christ warns His disciples not to easily conclude as such because that might only be the rich’s superfluous.
(2) Judging according to God’s standard: Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. He saw a poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
God does not judge according to the amount of money since He gives each different talents and amount; but He shall judge according to human effort. This is the reason why the Levi’s laws do not specify how much one Israelite must contribute to the treasury of the Temple; but only says it is 10% of one’s income. For example, if one’s monthly income is ten thousand dollars, he must contribute one thousand to the Temple. If one’s monthly income is one dollar, his contribution shall be ten cents. The woman who mentioned by Jesus, put in two cents; but hear what Jesus praises her: “but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had.” The big difference which Jesus pointed out here is between “their superfluous” and “her whole livelihood.” She put in all what she has though it seems not much according to human standard.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– Charity demands us to sacrifice to the end although we must sacrifice our own body. We can do this because we believe that death is not the end; but God will give back our life to us and reward what we have done for others.
– The perfect example for us to imitate is Christ. He sacrificed by incarnating, preaching, healing, and be nailing to the cross to redeem us. We should imitate Him in everything we do in this life.
– When we must evaluate people, we should not evaluate them according to worldly standards; but must look deep in their inside intention to recognize precious values of their works.