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32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

November 10, 2024

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Introit

Collect

Almighty and merciful God,
graciously keep from us all adversity,
so that, unhindered in mind and body alike,
we may pursue in freedom of heart
the things that are yours.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading1 Kgs 17:10-16

Elijah, the prophet, set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” 11 As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: ‘The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.’” 15 She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:7,8-9,9-10

R/. Praise the Lord, my soul!

Second Reading Heb 9:24-48

Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that comes the judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Alleluia Mt 5:3

Gospel Mk 12:41-44

Jesus was teaching in the temple, and a large crowd was listening to him. 38 He said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! 40 They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” 41 Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. 43 Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. 44 For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

Catena Nova

The poor widow put all that she possessed into the Temple treasury. For we must make an offering to God, and show ourselves in every way grateful to him who made us – in purity of thought, in sincerity of faith, in fervent hope and burning love – as we offer the first fruits of the things he has created and that are his. This offering the Church makes alone to her creator, making it with gratitude from his creation. For we are offering him the things that are his. (St. Irenaeus of Lyons).

What a blessed poverty! If the widow received here on earth such retribution, what a reward may she hope to receive in the life to come! I insist on this point – let us not expect to harvest the fruit of our sowing now, at the time we sow. Here on earth, we sow with difficulty what will be the harvest of our good works but only later on, will we gather the fruits of this with joy, according to what is said: “Those who go forth weeping, carrying sacks of seed, will return with cries of joy, carrying their bundled sheaves” (Ps 125:6). Actually Elijah’s act towards this woman was not her reward, but only a symbol of it. For if this widow would have been rewarded here on earth for having fed the man of God, what a miserable sowing, what a poor crop! She received just a temporal good – a jar of flour that did not empty and a jug of oil that did not run dry, until the day the Lord watered the earth with His rain. This sign that was given to her by God, for a few days was, therefore, the symbol of the future life where our reward could not be lessened. Our flour will be God himself! As the flour of this woman did not run out in these days, we will not be deprived of God for all the rest of eternity … Sow with faith and your harvest will surely come; it will come later on but when it will come, you will reap it endlessly (St. Augustine of Hippo).

In the matter of piety, poverty serves us better than wealth and works better than idleness, especially since wealth becomes an obstacle even for those who do not devote themselves to it. Yet, when we must put aside our wrath, quench our envy, soften our anger, offer our prayers and show a disposition which is reasonable, mild, kindly and loving, how could poverty stand in our way? For we accomplish these things not by spending money but by making the correct choice. Almsgiving, above all else, requires money but even this shines with a brighter lustre, when the alms are given from our poverty. The widow who paid in the two mites, was poorer than any human but she outdid them all (St. John Chrysostom).

We have been entrusted with the administration and use of temporal wealth for the common good, not with the everlasting ownership of private property. If you accept the fact that ownership on earth is only for a time, you can earn eternal possessions in heaven....Call to mind the widow who forgot herself in her concern for the poor, and, thinking only of the life to come, gave away all her means of subsistence. Others, [Jesus] says, have given of their superfluous wealth; but she, possessed of only two small coins and more needy perhaps than many of the poor—though in spiritual riches she surpassed all the wealthy—she thought only of the world to come, and had such a longing for heavenly treasure that she gave away, all at once, whatever she had that was derived from the earth and destined to return there. Let us then invest with the Lord what he has given us, for we have nothing that does not come from him: we are dependent upon him for our very existence....So let us give back to the Lord the gifts he has given us; let us give to him who receives in the person of every poor man or woman. Let us give gladly, I say, and great joy will be ours when we receive his promised reward (St. Paulinus of Nola).

What great profit you gain from God when you are generous! You give a coin and receive a kingdom; you give bread from wheat and receive the Bread of Life; you give a transitory good and receive an everlasting one. You will receive it back, a hundred times more than you offered (St. Thomas of Villanova).

Never measure your generosity by what you give, but rather by what you have left (Ven. Fulton J. Sheen).

Today Jesus also tells us that the benchmark is not quantity but fullness. There is a difference between quantity and fullness. You can have a lot of money and still be empty. There is no fullness in your heart. This week, think about the difference there is between quantity and fullness. It is not a matter of the wallet, but of the heart. There is a difference between the wallet and the heart.... There are diseases of the heart, which reduce the heart to the wallet.... This is not good! To love God “with all your heart” means to trust in him, in his providence, and to serve him in the poorest brothers and sisters without expecting anything in return....Let us ask the Lord to admit us to the school of this poor widow, whom Jesus places in the cathedra and presents as a teacher of the living Gospel even to the astonishment of the disciples (Pope Francis).

Homily

"Trust the Lectionary." That's a motto I live by as a preacher. Meaning the readings for a given Sunday are the best place to for some light shed on whatever is happening. But then I saw today's readings I felt quite let down nothing in them suggested a reflection in the aftermath of the presidential election. So I wrote a very innocuous homily, placed it on my website Thursday morning, and let it go. But then it came — the real homily — quite out of the blue on Friday morning as I was "prepping" for a medical procedure. I won't say which one.

And what was this flash of inspiration from an unlikely gospel? The widow, of course, with with her two small coins. I suddenly realized how her action was something like our vote — in other words, our chance on Tuesday to put our "own two cents" into the political fray. For in the end, that was all we had too. And like the widow's pittance, a vote is a very small contribution indeed compared to those who contributed from their surplus wealth.

For example, my two cents' worth could in no way compare to Elon Musk's super-PAC to which he personally contributed $118 million as of mid-October. Nor could his million dollar giveaways to swing state voters who as individuals could only contribute $3,300 per candidate per election. Hardly a widow's peak. While on the other side of the great divide, Michael Bloomberg kicked in over $50 million, Bill Gates another $50 million and George Soros $56 million. All told outside spending on 2024 federal elections hit a record $4.5 billion, with more than half of that spending coming from groups that do not fully disclose the source of their funding. (opensecrets.org).

That's possible, of course, due to the 2019 Citizens United decision of the Sanhedrin, er, I mean the Supreme Court, that the First Amendment prohibits the government from restricting independent expenditures for political campaigns by corporations, nonprofit organizations, labor unions, and other associations. Sounds like your two cents' worth is just about the value of an individual vote, doesn't it?

And it's not just money. The value of a vote is enhanced or diminished whether by endorsements from Taylor Swift or Joe Rogan as well as by "influencers" in the media with various biases not to mention those who engage in deliberate misinformation efforts from both domestic and foreign sources. It's a little like that unsuspecting widow who thought her two cents was going to support legitimate religious activities and leaders. She didn't realize how the Jewish high priests were often appointed by Roman officials with greased palms. Caiaphas, for example, was appointed by the prefect who preceded Pontius Pilate with whom he colluded to have Jesus executed. The Sadducees, the party to which Caiaphas belonged, were known to be corrupted by money and had great interest in the political power and benefits that came from their cosy ties with the Roman authorities. So that poor widow was quite possibly "voting" against her own best interests by her support of Caiaphas' elite backers who, after all, couldn't care less for the plight of women like her.

But what about that other widow in today's readings — from Zarephath — in the days of Elijah the prophet? Compared to the other one, she made out all right. She was able to eat for a year, and [Elijah] and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry. That was a pretty good return on her investment just for making a little cake. Something like the stock market soaring after Tuesday's election. Why, Elijah should be the new Secretary of the Treasury. After all, most people cast their ballot in hopes of economic benefit, the economy being, as usual, the number one concern of the electorate. But I doubt the other widow had anything to show for her paltry two-cent investment and many like her will be just as bereft in the coming years while others prosper — just not the poor, I assure you.

Still, in both widows' cases, neither had much to offer whether to the temple or to the prophet — much like your single vote. And what of those who are feeling completely disenfranchised today? An article in the Jesuit journal America said something I thought was very helpful:

Reminders to ‘be kind,’ or the hope for a quiet life with just enough creature comforts and just enough distraction are understandable. But they are simply not enough….There is only one way forward now: a relentless commitment to build a broad culture of life on the ground of radical love. I won’t propose labels, so much as commitments that could ground this form of life together. I believe we are called at the moment to several crucial tasks. (Holly Taylor Coolman; America; November 7, 2024)

Oh, and my procedure, that got this homily rolling? Well, among such crucial tasks, I need to eliminate a lot of toxic stuff from my life. I've been poisoned by the divisions, the polarization, the hair-trigger reactivity, the hostility, vitriol and anger, along with the temptation to dismiss people from my life, including family. So I think a purge is in order because the dangers of small growths becoming a full-grown cancer are very real. Oh, and if you ever doubt God has a sense of humor, just trust the Lectionary!

Intercessions (Joe Milner; The Sunday Website )

For the Church: that we may grow in our reliance upon God’s providence and confidently entrust all our needs to God who loves us.

For healing of political divisions: that God will help us recognize all people as our sisters and brothers before the one Father who gives life to all.

For widows and single mothers: that they may find encouragement in the Christian Community and receive the support they need to be faithful disciples.

For immigrants, refugees, outcasts, and the forgotten of society: that hearts may be opened to their struggles and our communities motivated to work to ease their suffering.

For all who have been widowed: that they may know God’s comforting presence and experience the care and concern of friends and family.

For all who are sick, particularly those with chronic illnesses or memory loss: that God’s healing love will give them strength, relieve their suffering, and renew their spirits.

For all in public service especially newly-elected officials: that the Spirit will help them to serve with honesty, faithfully use their skills to address the pressing issues of the day, and protect them from danger and threats.

God, our provider, you are the orphan’s hope and the widow’s bread. Strengthen our faith, that with simplicity of heart we may come to trust in you alone and hold back nothing in serving you. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen. (ICEL; 1998).

Offertory Chant

Offertory Hymn

Down by the river where the shadows grow thin A prophet walked in hunger With the world on his skin He found a widow A child at her side With barely a morsel In a world that's so wide.

Oh Elijah With a heart full of sorrow A promise of plenty for a worried tomorrow The oil kept a-flowing The meal never ceased In times of despair A small feast.

A jug that's near empty A jar almost dry With faith she surrendered 'neath an unyielding sky "Fear not " said the prophet "The barrel won't bear An end to the bounty With hope in your prayer."

Miracles happen in silence Unseen In the quiet embrace of a prayer unclean The hand of the humble lifts higher the crude In the light of their faith They are renewed.

Introit

Responsorial Psalm Ps 146:7,8-9,9-10

Gospel Mk 12:41-44

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