Author: admin

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Gospel: Mark 12: 41-44

Jesus 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.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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If you knew you had only a few hours to a handful of days left here on earth, how would you spend them? Where would you go?

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In today’s Gospel, we encounter two people who recognize their end is near. That recognition brings them both to the Temple.

One is Jesus. The Lord first entered the Temple as a baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes, held in Mary’s arms. Mary and Joseph brought him there to consecrate him to God, according to Jewish Law.

The Holy Family returned to the Temple each year to celebrate the Passover. Luke tells us about one year, in particular, when Mary and Joseph lost a teenage Jesus in the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem.

Today the Lord enters the Temple one final time, just days away from his death. 

After the explosive drama of turning tables, chasing out moneychangers, and scolding the religious authorities, Jesus’ final image of the Temple is framed by a poor, elderly widow.

She, too, is nearing her end.

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Jesus watches her as she walks slowly towards the treasury, and drops her last two coins into the dark, metal abyss. Symbolically, those coins represented her worth in society – nothing.

But to Jesus, her gift meant everything.

The fact that she gives not one, but both of her coins away only magnifies the sacrifice. Even a generous person could’ve reasonably held onto one. 

Why would she do such a thing? Wasn’t she worried about securing her next meal – a loaf of bread, a salted piece of fish? 

Perhaps she remembered the story of the widow from Zarephath in our first reading, how she and her son were saved from starvation after giving the prophet Elijah their last handful of flour and final drops of oil. 

Miraculously, Elijah provided them with a year’s worth of food in return.

This could’ve been the widow’s desperate ploy to “give and get” from God. I’ll give God my two coins, hoping he’ll grant me a few meals in return.

But she was not seeking a miracle. She gave everything she had without expecting anything in return. Perhaps an act of thanksgiving at the end of her life.

“This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury,” Jesus says. “She, from her poverty, has contributed her whole livelihood.” 

The Greek word used here is bios, meaning, “life,” giving the impression that she’s nearing her end.

Here, in the twilight of her life, she accomplishes the final two tasks given to her by God – to anonymously console the heart of Christ, and in doing so, to fulfill her role as prophetess.

Maybe the Lord remembered her as he offered his own sacrifice, crying out beaten and bloodied, from the Cross: “Into your hands, LORD, I commend my Spirit.”

That week, both Jesus and the widow gave their very lives back to God.

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This elderly widow stands in stark contrast to the rich young man. She did the one thing he could not; she offered everything she had, as little as it was, to God. 

Such a story can leave us either envious of her generous faith or feeling disconnected from her story; none of us is as poor as she was.

But there’s another “mite,” a different type of poverty, we all share. Unlike money, which can be given away and earned again, the one resource we’re all limited by is time.

The temptation is to hoard it; to govern it; to spend it on ourselves. The invitation is to become like the widow, offering a “few coins” back to God.

Such a gift cannot be done in one great gesture; even laying down one’s life as a missionary or a priest is only a promise to be of service. Our gift of time comes in daily doses.

A few moments spent in silence, pondering a page in the bible, prayer before meals, listening to a friend or stranger after Mass, a Sunday afternoon in the soup kitchen.

How do you offer God a few precious minutes – part of yourself – each day?

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Like Jesus and the widow, both of whom we encounter in the Temple, may we all spend a few precious moments with God, even if they just might be our last.

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Image credits: (1) Pin Page (2) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (3) LinkedIn

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Gospel: Luke 16: 1-8

Jesus said to his disciples, “A rich man had a steward
who was reported to him for squandering his property.
He summoned him and said,
‘What is this I hear about you?
Prepare a full account of your stewardship,
because you can no longer be my steward.’
The steward said to himself, ‘What shall I do,
now that my master is taking the position of steward away from me?
I am not strong enough to dig and I am ashamed to beg.
I know what I shall do so that,
when I am removed from the stewardship,
they may welcome me into their homes.’
He called in his master’s debtors one by one.
To the first he said, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of olive oil.’
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note.
Sit down and quickly write one for fifty.’
Then to another he said, ‘And you, how much do you owe?’
He replied, ‘One hundred measures of wheat.’  
He said to him, ‘Here is your promissory note;
write one for eighty.’
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than the children of light.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Why does Jesus praise the dishonest steward in today’s Gospel? He’s just been fired for squandering his master’s property! Fraud is a very bad thing.

But after his dismissal, this dishonest steward devises a plan, not only to repay some of his master’s debts, but also to forge new business relationships in the process, paving a path for his future.

This man dug himself into a hole, and come hell or high water, he’s going to climb his way out. 

That is why Jesus blesses him; he’s entrepreneurial, determined, and creative. If he applied these same skills and desperation to his spiritual life, then he’d be a saint.

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Therein lies the challenge for us.

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Each of us has found some success in this world. When we’re knocked down, we pull ourselves up by our boot straps; doing so is deeply entrenched in the American spirit.

But are we as determined to enrich our friendship with God as we are to be successful? 

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Use your God-given talents not just for the affairs of this world, but also for the things that are above.

You just might become a saint.

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Image credits: (1) Study.com (2) Effective Altruism for Christians (3) Strive for Heaven Now

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Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10

The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.

“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’ 
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This is the third time the religious authorities express their disdain for Jesus’ association with sinners. They believed God wanted them to separate themselves from people with loose morals at any cost, lest they sin. 

Keeping their distance was a type of spiritual security policy.

However, Jesus does the opposite, spending his entire life with “tax collectors and sinners,” even calling them to share in his ministry. He justifies this approach, teaching them that God does not wait for the sinner to repent; rather, God goes after us. 

He seeks us out. He takes the initiative.

Whether it’s the shepherd seeking his lost sheep or a widow looking for a single coin, God is the protagonist, taking responsibility for the one who strayed or rolled away.

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This is the type of attitude that the Church – you and I – must take in our world today. We all know people who have fallen away from God, or people who, perhaps, never found him. This is certainly true among the younger generations.

With so many different distractions – from technology and social media, to varying life-philosophies – it can be difficult for people to find the Lord, which is why we must go after them.

We are certainly making this attempt in our parish – building out our baptismal ministry, a convalidation ministry (receiving civilly married couples into the Church), an outreach ministry for new moms, and re-imagining our faith formation and Confirmation programs.

Each of these ministries speak to the divine initiative of Jesus in the Gospel, who seeks, searches, finds, and rejoices.

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Is the Lord calling you to participate in any of these ministries? Or, in what ways do you engage the next generation?

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While the religious authorities thought closing others out of their world led to spiritual security, the opposite is true.

Jesus asks us to seek. Search. Find. Rejoice!

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Image credits: (1) Will Vaus (2) United Church of God (3) Million Minutes