1 Kg 17:10-16; Ps 145 (146); Hb 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44
God’s providence
Dear friends, today is the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary time, we have only two Sundays left in this season. The last Sunday of the season we will celebrate the feast of Christ the King and with that close the liturgical year B. The theme of the readings today is “God’s providence”. I invite us to ask ourselves: “Do you trust that God is the one who provides your sustenance, or do you think that it is your wits and efforts that do?
In the first reading today, we encounter Prophet Elijah who is believed to be the greatest of all prophets in Israel. During his time, the prophet did many great things in the name of Yahweh. He confronted powerful kings, called fire from heaven, and even raised a dead man (1 Kg17:17-24). Today we hear how he miraculously saved the lives of a widow and her son from a very severe drought that lasted for three and a half years. This happened because the widow was generous to share her last food in the house. Many of us are very stingy even when we have more than enough. We think that if we share, we will lack. There is a lot of joy in sharing. You cannot enjoy your favourite meal when someone hungry is staring at you. If we share, God sustains what we have to last for longer and we shall never be in want.
From the Gospel Jesus reproaches the hypocrisy of the scribes. They loved showing off their fake piety by wearing long robes, being greeted in the markets, and taking front seats in the synagogues and places of honour in banquets. They always gave offertory from what their surplus. However, the poor widow unlike the rich fellows gave all she had left trusting that in doing so, God would provide for her sustenance. It does not matter the amount we give but our faith and trust in God’s providence. The rich thought they pleased God by their hefty offering forgetting that it is He who gave them even their very lives. God provides for us according to our needs and sometimes offers extra for the needy around us. Do you know that the extra wealth you have belongs not to you but to the less privileged?
There is a wrong notion among many Christians that Sunday offering is what remains after we have fulfilled our needs. Many still think that offering must be the smallest denomination in their currency, many times being coins. One day, one-dollar, five-dollar, and ten-dollar bills met and were sharing about the places they had been. The ten-dollar bill boasted that she had been to the best restaurants, pubs, and other entertainment places. The five-dollar bill said that he frequents marketplaces and shops. The one-dollar bill said that he is always in the Churches but mostly in the Catholic Church. If we give God, what is surplus or that which has no value to us, how can we expect him to give us what is of value? Offering is not the coins we give to God but our lives and what we do with them. The offering we give is our prayer to God. What we offer is what we wish for. Do you even plan beforehand what offering you take to the altar of God?
Through Christ Jesus, God has made it possible for us to access him and his blessings any time we want. However, it is our faith and good deeds that will make us benefit from his bountiful providence. Many people offer to the Church proceeds of corruption and crime thinking that by doing so they will appease God. This is money laundering, and it only magnifies the sin. You only look generous to the pastor and the congregation but to God you are a fool who thinks can bribe Him.
Dear friends, God has given us the knowledge to plan our lives by saving and investing in our future and the future of those under our care. However, let us be cautious rest we are tempted to think that when we accumulate wealth and become rich, we do not need God anymore. The fourth preface in ordinary time puts it even better, “For, although you have no need of our praise, yet our thanksgiving is itself your gift, since our praises add nothing to your greatness, but profit us for salvation, through Christ our Lord”. Jesus also urges us to store our treasures in heaven where their safety is guaranteed ((Mt 6:19-20).
Have a blessed Sunday.
Fr. Lawrence Muthee, SVD
SVD JAMBO KENTAN 