Jesus said to his disciples, “Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, ‘I am sorry,’ you should forgive him.”
And the Apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” The Lord replied, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A few years ago, a story went viral about a retired Army veteran named Anthony Maggert, who was driving to Walter Reed Hospital for a routine doctor’s appointment.
On his way, Anthony noticed a car pulled over on the side of the road with a flat tire. Without hesitation, he stopped to help.
To his surprise, the person with the unfortunate flat was General Colin Powell, an American hero and fellow Army veteran.
The two quickly became friends as Powell recognized in Maggert that instinctive selflessness written into the DNA of our nation’s veterans, who freely risked their lives in defense of our democracy.
In Maggert’s case, he served three tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan, losing one of his legs along the way.
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It’s hard to imagine equaling Maggert’s sacrifice, although some extraordinary men and women have.
But two ways we can all thank our veterans today is to be grateful for this wonderful nation we all call home. Then pay that gratitude forward.
Find some small way to sacrifice your time, treasure, or talent for a neighbor in need. Change a tire, pay a visit, cook a meal, thank a veteran, beat your swords plowshares and your spears into pruning hooks.
Recognize, at least today, if not always, that beneath whatever differences we may have, we are not onlyAmericans, we are also one family – brothers and sisters in Christ.
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Image credits: (1) California American Legion (2) WINK News (3) Vietnam Veterans of America
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 hercoins 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
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
