The Sunday Gospel [November 11, 2012]
Mark 12:38-44
38In the course of his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, 39seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. 40They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”
41He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43Calling 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. 44For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."
Reflection
A part of the Jewish temple was the court of women where “collection boxes” were established. People would drop money in these trumpet-shaped boxes for the support of God’s temple.
In today’s Gospel, we find Jesus observing the crowd putting in their offerings, the priest-guardian of the treasury calling the name of the generous donors and the amount of their offering and then thanking them and blessing them in return.
Lost in the clinging of golden and silver coins is the clang of a widow’s two lepta (copper coins), which have the least value among the coins in circulation. She may as well have given only one, yet she gives all that she has to live on. That sound, however, is music to Jesus’ ears and he plucks her out of from anonymity and raises her above all the benefactors of the temple. In the eyes of God, her two coins are far more valuable than the contributions of the wealthy because in them is her “everything.”
The poor widow represents the true believer who entrusts everything to God, the figure of the poor Church which is blessed by God. She is the one who observes the greatest commandment of loving God with all her heart, mind, and strength. And God, who is rich in mercy, becomes her defender.
What a contrast to the Scribes who “devour the savings of widows.” They are experts in the Mosaic Law, and most probably for their “lawyer’s fee,” they charge the widows too much that these have to use their savings or sell their properties to pay them. How ironic that the sizable amounts offered by all the ostentatious rich have come from the poor and simple people. The prophets have proclaimed that true religion in the case of foreigners, widows, and orphans who are most in need of protection takes the form of justice and defense, and yet the so-called practitioners and teachers of God’s law do the opposite. In this case, what they offer God is “blood” money.
Poverty is not synonymous with misery and the poor have often a certain nobility. Archbishop Helder Camara of Recife, Brazil, was told by a widow when a Frenchman whom she he was accompanying in a poor quarter mumbled how miserable the people were: “Please tell our visitor that we are not so miserable as he thinks we are. We have our hands, our feet, our eyes, and, most importantly, we have God.” A proud claim, but knowing Jesus’ praise for the widow, she is not far from the truth.
Reflection Credits: Fr. Gil A. Alinsangan, SSP, On the Way to the Cross
Source: The Reflection is from Bro. Abel Navarro (you can visit his blog at http://myblogabelnavarroabel.blogspot.com/).
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