Homily: 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
November 10, 2024
My dear brothers and sisters, the liturgy of the word of today focuses our attention on the virtue of religion especially towards supporting the work of God. The two protagonists in today’s readings are poor widows; the widow of Zarephath in the first reading and the poor widow in the gospel that put in two copper coins in the church’s treasury. In our time where some Christians do not even have the time again to come nearer to God in His holy temple not to talk of supporting the work of God, these two widows have much to teach us concerning the virtue of religion.
A common trait unites the two widows together, both were very poor widows. They gave all that they had so that the gospel message of God could continue. Imagine how it hurt this widow in the Old Testament when she prepared for the prophet Elijah the last morsel of bread and oil meant for her and her son. Imagine how painful it was for this poor widow in the gospel when she sacrificed to God her last two copper coins. The two had to make these painful sacrifices for the value they see in God. These two widows teach us that life is not all about pleasures, our Christianity should not only be about having a pleasant time, it is also sacrificial, sometimes it can hurt, we can let go and make sacrifices for the sake of God.
It is so lovely and touching that the two models handed down in the Sacred Scriptures both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament as heroic models for the support of God’s work; were not even very wealthy people that made huge donations. These models of generosity were not the CEO or part of the board of directors of Walmart, Tesla or Amazon. They were not even people who built magnificent cathedrals or basilica in their communities. Instead, they were people whose gifts to God were of little monetary value. Their sincerity and sacrifice were rather emphasized. They had nothing, yet even from their empty pocket, they offered everything they had for the furtherance of the mission of God on earth. Brothers and sisters, this is a great lesson for us. Let us not find reasons to exclude ourselves from the mission of God. Laboring in the vineyard of God is not meant for any special people, may be the people we feel that God has blessed in abundance, no, when we present to God what we have and what we are, God can do with it and with us things that are beyond our imagining.
These readings of today show us how God appreciates and blesses our generous sacrifices. In the first reading from the book of Kings, as the prophet prophesied, God blessed the poor widow, the jar of meal and the jug of oil never became empty till the day that God sent rain to the earth. In the gospel reading too, the poor widow never even knew that Jesus was sitting quietly taking note of the treasure of good works done by all men and women and spotted her out as being extraordinary and worthy of special applause. Brothers and sisters, Jesus has not fallen asleep, He is still seating on the throne watching the treasury of our good works and generous sacrifices. The time, energy, money, material things, talents that we put it for the continuation of the gospel message of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus is watching them all. May we never be tired of doing what is good.
