[Salvation]

Catholic Culture

Daily Readings for: November 11, 2012
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: Almighty and merciful God, graciously keep from us all adversity, so that, unhindered in mind and body alike, we may pursue in freedom of heart the things that are yours. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

• Green Beans
• Roast with Vegetables

ACTIVITIES

• Elementary Parent Pedagogy: Training by Doing, Children and the Whole Church
• Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November

PRAYERS

• Prayer for the Dead
• Prayer for the Dead - 2

LIBRARY

• God Alone Is My Every Good, My Life | Pope John Paul II
• Offer your suffering to God | Pope John Paul II

Ordinary Time: November 11th

Thirty-Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

Old Calendar: Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

He 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 (Mark 12:41-44)."

Click here for commentary on the readings in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.

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Sunday Readings
The first reading is taken from the First Book of Kings 17:10-16.In this reading we have one of the many miracles attributed to Elijah, the great prophet who preached in the northern kingdom between 900 and 850 BC.

The second reading is from St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews 9:24-28. This epistle continues with its description of Christ as the high priest of the New Testament and his superiority over those of the Old Testament.

The Gospel is from the Gospel of St. Mark 12:38-44. Our Lord's severe condemnation of those Scribes whose exaggerated opinion of their own importance made a mockery of the religion they professed to live, is a serious warning to all his followers not to look for the praise and esteem of their neighbors when doing their good works, but rather to hope for God's praise and esteem in the future world. In another context, he said to his followers: "Because of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven . . . when you give alms do not let your left hand know what your right is doing ... and your Father who sees in secret will reward you .. . when you pray go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father ... who sees in secret and will reward you" (Mt. 6: 1-6).

It is hardly necessary to say that our Lord is not referring to community prayers or services here. What he is condemning is the hypocrisy of the Scribes, who lengthened their garments and their prayers not in order to give glory to God but to earn the glory of their fellowmen for themselves. Pride was their predominant vice—the vice which caused the fall of angels and of man. It so governed their lives that even their best actions were vitiated by it. There is a strong inclination to pride in every one of us. The reason is that we have great gifts from God and great capabilities: but we are tempted to claim the credit for these gifts and capabilities for ourselves—whereas we owe them all to God's generosity.

A proud Christian is surely a contradiction in terms. A Christian is a follower of Christ whose humility can never be equaled. He was God as well as man. While on earth he emptied himself, as St. Paul puts it, of his divine glory so that he could be like one of us. A follower of Christ should not try to make display of gifts which are not his own, nor try to exalt himself above his neighbor because of something he has which was not given to his neighbor. If Christ wanted to be, and indeed was like the least one among us, we must never try to raise ourselves above our neighbor. Love of neighbor is the second of the two essential commandments—there can be no true love of neighbor where there is pride.

The second incident in today's Gospel story highlights true humility and true charity. The poor widow, forgetful of herself and of her own needs gave her all, her last penny, to help others who were in need. She made this sacrifice without publicity and without seeking the praise of her neighbors. It is this deep contrast between her outlook on life and on religion, and that of the Scribes in the first that connects the two incidents. While the Scribes sought to earn the respect and praise of their fellow-Jews—as well as all the financial gain they could come by—from the practice of the externals of their religion, this poor widow's religion was practiced in secret and it was to God alone that she looked for any reward that he might deign to give her.

As we saw in today's first reading we can be sure that she was not left without the reward she deserved. The widow of Zarephath was given a temporal reward. The same generous God did not let the similar act of supreme generosity on the part of the widow in Jerusalem go unnoticed. Christ's judgment on the Scribes implies this: They will receive the greater condemnation for their pride, and abuse of religion for their own temporal gain. On the other hand the widow's religion was an act of complete self-renunciation: "she has put in everything she had, her whole living."

We may never be called on to share our last morsel with a starving neighbor but if we are, we must remember that Christ gave his very life for us and has asked us to do likewise, if necessary. It may never be necessary for us to make this supreme act of self-renunciation. If, however, we are sincerely practicing our religion, we must be ever-ready to help a neighbor in need even if this cuts into our hard-earned reserves. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward.

Excerpted from The Sunday Readings by Fr. Kevin O'Sullivan, O.F.M.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Mark 12:38-44

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors.” (Mark 12:43)

Today’s readings give us two illus­trations of extravagant love. First, we have the widow who cared for Elijah, and in the Gospel we see another widow, who put her last two coins in the Temple treasury.

Let’s face it—neither of these women had anything! So what pos­sessed them to give so generously? There can be only one answer: love. With an almost reckless regard for their own lives, one shared her last bit of flour and oil, and one shared her last bit of money—and both did it out of love for the God they worshipped.

Whenever we witness courageous acts of love, our response should be the same reverence that Jesus had. When he saw the widow give her last two coins, he was so moved that he praised her to his apostles. “She, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood,” he told them (Mark 12:44).

Blessed Mother Teresa understood this type of love, because she saw it every day on the streets of Calcutta. She once observed: “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” Like the widows in today’s readings, Mother Teresa encountered those who, despite hav­ing barely enough to live on, loved God and neighbor so deeply that they willingly shared the little they had with those who had even less.

What a high and beautiful goal these women have set for us! No matter where we are on the spectrum of earthly riches, we all have our own sense of what it means to give and to love until it hurts. Each of us can experience the great paradox that when we give of ourselves so deeply, we will encounter a love that will never be outdone in its generosity.

“Lord, I long for just a glimmer of the love that these widows had for you. Open my eyes to those who need your love, so that I can love them as extravagantly as you do.”

1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146:7-10; Hebrews 9:24-28

Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion

1. In the First Reading, we meet a widow whose great faith in God allowed her to trust that what Elijah told her was true. “For the Lord, the God of Israel says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” Share a time when you were obedient to what you believed the Lord wanted you to do. What was the fruit of this obedience?

2. The Responsorial Psalm speaks of the Lord’s faithfulness to the most needy -- the oppressed, hungry, captives, blind, fatherless, widows, and those who are bowed down. What are some ways you can imitate the Lord by reaching out to others less fortunate than you?

3. The Second Reading speaks of Jesus’ first coming, and his sacrifice on the cross, and his second coming, when he will “bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.” Are you joyful and expectant when you think of the Jesus’ second coming? Why or why not? Should you be?

4. In the Gospel, Jesus contrasts the difference between the behavior of the scribes and that of the poor widow. Why do you think Jesus did this? How would you describe the difference? How does it apply to your own life?

5. In the meditation, these words of Blessed Mother Teresa are quoted: “I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” What do these words mean to you? What steps can you take to live these words out more fully in your life?

6. Take some time now to pray and ask for the grace to know and experience more deeply God’s great love for you, and the grace to give it away to others. Use the prayer at the end of the meditation as the starting point.