32ND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B

1Kgs 17:10-6

Ps 145:7-10

Heb. 9:24-28

Mark 12:38-44

 

A DARING GENEROSITY

 

Do not to be afraid to give, for generosity pays. This is the main message of today’s readings. The first reading recounts the daring act of generosity of the widow of Zarephath. She used the last provisions she had to feed the prophet Elijah at the time of the drought. And her jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, in accordance with the word of the prophet (1Kgs 17:10-6). 

 

According to the second reading, Jesus made a total offering of himself to God out of love for us as a sacrifice of expiation, taking on himself the faults of many (Heb. 9:24-28). In the gospel, after teaching, Jesus sat opposite the treasury and was observing the people contributing into the treasury. Then came a widow who put all that she had to live on, two small coins. The inner attitude that accompanied her offer was so great that Jesus commends her to his disciples: Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury…” (Mark 12:38-44). 

 

What is common to the two widows of today’s readings is their daring generosity: giving out all that they had. They took a risk which translates their trust in God's providence. They were poor in material possessions, but rich in generosity. What we can learn from these two widows is that none of us is too poor that he or she has nothing to give; and that none of our “little offer” is insignificant before God. 

 

Every act of generosity will not go unrewarded. What matters is not so much what we give but how we give. It should be out of love and generosity. Indeed, if we wait to have much before giving, we will never give, because we will never have much. Though it is a terrifying and painful experience to give out of the little, it is in this risky act of giving out of the little that we experience God’s closeness to us. For those who trust God and show generosity to others are never disappointed in time of their own need. May the Lord teach us to give and give generously. Amen