They have all contributed from their surplus wealth
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.
They have all contributed from their surplus wealth
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 11, 2018
Mark 12, 38-44
There are two ways to hear the story put before us next week. It could be a sentimental story about a generous poor old lady, but it isn’t. It is really a biting attack on systems and people who run them: systems that victimize, abuse, and use the helpless to serve themselves. She is symbolic of any people who have no social status and no security. She is symbolic of single women on welfare, people who are blamed for all manner of disasters, regarded as a burden and a nuisance, legitimate targets for mockery and talk show abuse. They are joined by the mentally ill whom the hospitals cannot afford to keep (but who decides what hospitals can and can’t afford?); the forgotten unemployed who are not counted because they have given up looking for jobs, abused and neglected children who grow into despairing and violent adults. Disciples of Jesus Christ do not take advantage of others, manipulate them, nor victimize them in any way for any purpose. We will also hear a reading from Elijah, a hero figure for Jesus. In contrast to the Gospel story, Elijah respected the woman of his story and restored her self-respect and hope when she was willing to let go of her despair and share with the stranger. We don’t know from Mark’s Gospel whether Jesus saw that widow again after she had slunk away into the crowd, but it seems very possible that, in the city where he was by then so well known, she heard of him and heard him and perhaps took courage to believe that she too had value in the sight of God. This is the work of Disciples. This is the work of those who would live as Stewards of God’s gifts. This is the work of us all.
Fr. Tom Boyer