Thirty Second Ordinary Sunday, Year B
Theme: Learn From the Poor Widow
I cherish an unspeakable fondness of this poor widow story. In December 2012 during the election rite to the candidacy of permanent diaconate, my mind was fully infused with this story so much so that I do not remember what gospel passage was read that evening during the ceremony. The good Lord showed his mercy, accepting the meagre “possession” I offered. In fact, whatever I possessed at that moment were all His gifts and throughout the years, I have spent and wasted most of the talentum given me. To be candid, whatever remains is genuinely microscopic. Still, the good Lord is happy to accept my offer and to turn it useful. St. Augustine says it right, “Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I love you.” (Confession X)
Before meditating on the poor widow story, let’s tidy up some loose ends. In the previous week, a scribe challenged Jesus what the first commandment was among the 613 laws. Of course it’s a piece of cake for Jesus. But has anybody wondered why Jesus gave two commandments instead of one? Perhaps it’s a professional hazard for me as a retired teacher. When a student gives unasked for answers, we ignore those answers because they waste our time and we will have a bad impression on the student. So, why did Jesus bring up the “Love your neighbour as yourself” commandment (Mark 12:31)?
I opine that this is what Jesus means when He said “I have come not to abolish but to fulfil the law.” (Matthew 5:17) One way to diminish the effectiveness of the law is to compartmentalize it. Disconnect individual laws, erase their interrelationship and very soon, the spirit of the law vanishes. Without its spirit, the law turns into a devouring monster instead of a guardian of justice. See how the religious authority tried to make use of the law to find fault with Jesus. What did Jesus do? He put the two commandments together once more. His beloved disciple captured the Master’s intention well when he wrote, “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) Therefore, nobody is able to love God who is invisible, with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind and all his strength unless he also loves his neighbour who is visible. A hypocrite is able to boast how much he loves the invisible God. Only by loving the visible poor widow can a hypocrite prove that his love is genuine and thus he is not a hypocrite. Unfortunately, the scribes “devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers.” (Mark 12:40) With lengthy prayers, the scribes showed how much they loved the invisible God. At the same time, they harmed the needy who were visible. Do we need to pass judgment? No. God will provide.
On one hand, the story of the poor widow today is uplifting because no matter how microscopic our offer is, the good Lord accepts and praises. He praises because “God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The Lord looks into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) The rich might want to show off their riches in their offering. This is pride which obviously offends God. But I think the worst part is to offer “from their surplus wealth” (Mark 12:44a) which was the same mistake Cain had made. (Genesis 4:3, 5, 7) God wants us to be free because He is free. He does not want us to be attached to any worldly things. God did not look with favour Cain’s offering because Cain did not want to depart from his best possession. Similarly, Jesus did not praise the rich because they were not free from their attachment to wealth. On the contrary, the poor widow offered up all that she had. Indeed, she loved God with all her heart, her soul, her mind and her strength. She had observed the first commandment!
We should envy the poor widow because it is easier for the poor to abandon two mites than for the rich two millions. It costs you less to give up two mites because after all, the two mites could not do anything while the opportunity cost of giving up two millions is much higher! It demands greater courage and intelligence to give up two millions than to give up two mites! Thus, the rich is more pitiful than the poor widow!
On the other hand, the story of the poor widow is disturbing because the poor widow is annonymous! Biblical characters without names usually do not end up well. For example, the child which Bathsheba bore for David as a result of adultery (2 Samuel 12:18) and the rich man in the parable of Lazarus the beggar (Luke 16:23). So the fate of the poor widow concerns me. Of course, sociologically speaking, widows in ancient times were marginalized, unless they were national heroines , e.g. Jael and Judith, or were related with kings, e.g. Naomi and Ruth. Otherwise, they would be annoymous like the widow who fed Elijah for three years! Nevertheless, we will naturally wonder what would happen to the poor widow next? She loved God with her all. It would be disturbing if this poor widow was starved to death! However, in the cruelty of daily life, doesn’t our God allow bad things to happen to good people?
As usual, like the parable of the Prodigal Son, the gospel is open-ended. Jesus invites the readers to take appropriate actions. He would not force us. Therefore, her fate most probably depended on her neighbour in the Lucan sense. It is well-known that the early church set up in Jerusalem took care of widows (Acts 6:1). Therefore, the poor widow whom Jesus praised might be taken care of by the Christian community in Jerusalem and remained annoymous because there were so many of them. But that would only be possible at least 50 days later after the Pentecost! Would the widow have survived?
Let’s take a step back. Previously, Jesus came to fulful the law by putting the two commandments together. This time, where is the “Love your neighbour as yourself”? Put it this way, what would God do to feed the widow? Would God appear to perform a miracle, say multiplying the flour in the jar (1 Kings 17:16), to solve her problem? Of course not! Her neighbour should be the hands of God to perform this miracle! If you’re not convinced, watch the attached excerpt of a 1977 comedy.
Brethren! God says, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.” (Genesis 2:18) Our heavenly Father intended us to help each other. But regrettably, we use each other instead! Remember Jesus’ question “Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbour to the robbers’ victim?” (Luke 10:36) in the parable of the Good Samaritan! Invoke the Holy Spirit to help us live up the commandments of love so that the kingdom of heaven may prevail.
God bless!
2018 Homily
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