(For the audio version of this blog, please visit: https://brothersinchristcmf.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mass-Blog-for-the-32nd-Sunday-of-Ordinary-Time-2024.mp3)
Imagine you’re Elijah the prophet, meeting a poor widow preparing for her own death. She’s scrounging for scraps to prepare her last meal. Would you have the gall to ask her to feed you?
Elijah did (1 Kgs 17:10-16). And she must have sensed he was a man of God, because she used what little she had on hand to fill his belly. Her faith in action ensured Elijah’s prophecy that she and her son would stay fed.
She was like the widow Jesus saw put her two-coin life savings into the temple treasury to feed others. “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow contributed all she had, her whole livelihood,” Jesus enthuses. (Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44)
These readings from this Sunday’s liturgy teach us that livelihood is a means of supporting life. You’ve heard the phrase, “It’s a living.” That often refers to a 9-to-5 job—something we do five or six days a week so we can pay the bills. Saturday and/or Sunday are called the weekend. Many of us devote an hour on one of those days listening to the word of God.
Sunday’s readings tell us that routine is out of whack. Listening to them, we hear God tell us that living is a 24/7 job, and therefore, a livelihood meant to support a mission. As with the widows of these readings, we are meant to sustain ourselves by caring for others. “But what’s MY mission?” you might ask.
A parish’s mission statement is a good place to start finding your answer. The inside first page of the St. Michael’s church bulletin spells it out: “Meeting Christ through prayer and being Christ for the world.” Attending Mass, we receive Christ so we can be what we eat. Being Christ is a mission supported by people invited to assess their gifts so they can select a ministry to be of service. Ministries are the life blood of every church. And churches are people, not buildings.
Don’t throw your church bulletin away after Mass! St. Michael’s ministries are listed a couple pages after the final hymn printed in it. Think of this as another way of saying the end of Mass is where you begin. What’s your ministry?
Feeding the poor?
Counseling the poor in spirit?
Comforting mourners?
Teaching followers to lead?
Making peace?
Being all you can be means giving all you can give. If you could experience a poor widow’s hunger, chances are you could find a ministry to feed both of you. Your talent is God’s currency. It will pay your way.
–Tom Andel
The readings this week offer a true insight of what complete trust in God looks like.
Both of these widows were clearly taking the long view of eternity. Perhaps this was due to their personal circumstances. They were both broke. I believe this gave them the ability to see beyond their situation, and put all their chips on the table, betting on God
It seems many who have more than enough can develop a myopic view of the world and overemphasize their need for more than they need.
As Matthew Kelly says, “people can never get enough of what they really don’t need.”
A sense of mission DOES sensitize one to the needs of others, Thomas. Sometimes charity DOES start at home. Often your neighbor’s.