Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time Read more
Homily
The Gospel scene opens on a peculiar note: "The large crowd was listening to him with delight." Why Jesus touched people’s hearts because he loved to the point that he gave his life for them. Listening to the Gospel, and listening to it with delight, was decisive for salvation. Already the Book of Sirach exhorted the wise person to "be ready to listen to every godly discourse" (6:35).
We are at the end of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, and the contrast with the scribes and Pharisees has reached its climax. The evangelist Mark emphasizes the difference between the attitude of the crowd and that of the religious hierarchy. It is not a difference of belonging. Last Sunday, i.e. the Gospel spoke of a scribe who "was not far from the kingdom of heaven." The problem is in people’s hearts, whether they feel or not the need to be saved. Jesus listens to the crowd’s questions. He does not want to disappoint their need and even less does he want to abandon them to their destiny. The rejection, or lack of attention, to those requests, would mean handing the crowds over to the scribes and Pharisees, to the evil shepherds, who would abandon everyone in desperation. Indifference is never neutral. It is much more: it is the abandonment of the weak in the hands of the "scribes." Every generation has its own "scribes" who go around in long robes, who take the first seats in the assembly or in the political and cultural forums, who receive salutations and respect from the majority. Scribes and Pharisees are those who dictate what happiness or unhappiness is; they are those who govern our consciences and tastes, who direct us with an authority that we do not often perceive but to which we are subject. They are true "teachers" of life. They have powerful tools at their disposal; just as the powerful and strong were the scribes in Jesus’ time. Then, as today, Jesus wants to undermine their leading role with the poverty of the Gospel preaching, so that they do not impose heavy and useless burdens on the shoulders of desperate people. Only Jesus is the true good shepherd.
Jesus does not stop in his reprimand, and adds: "They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers." The widows’ houses are the houses of those who do not have anyone to defend them. Even today there are many houses of widows, orphans, and even entire countries that are not defended. Yes, there are many widows like the one in Zarephath, whose story we heard in the book of Kings. They are forced to say: "I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die." In many houses and lands there is nothing to eat tomorrow. There is no future. Who is looking at these widows Who will take care of them Who will at least turn his or her eyes to them
Jesus looks at them. He looks at them as he gazed at that widow who made her offering for the temple. Jesus sees her putting two coins in the priest’s hands. No one, of course, notices her. She does not come from a noble or royal family and so she does not attract attention; she does not belong to the world of rich and famous people so she is not noticed. She is not worth anything. If bystanders saw her, most of them probably misjudged her. What did she give Only two small copper coins: nothing in comparison to the substantial offerings that the rich could show off. However, Jesus looked with affection and admiration at that woman, insignificant toif not despised bythe eyes of most. Only Jesus gives her attention; not even the disciples notice her. We can imagine that Jesus calls his friends to pay attention to her. Jesus teaches the disciples, who were absentminded or focused only on impressive things, to look with love and care at the smallest things. With the solemnity of important momentsso different from human judgmentJesus says: "Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on." She did not keep for herself even one of the two coins. Contrary to all others and to us, she loved God with all her soul and all her strength to the point of giving everything she had.
It is not by chance that the evangelist locates this insignificant, certainly not glamorous, episode at the end of Jesus’ public life and of his teaching in the temple of Jerusalem. Contrary to the young rich man who "went away grieving" because he had many riches and wanted to keep them for himself (Mk 10:22), this poor widow, by giving everything, teaches us how to love God and the Gospel. She went away happy. Truly she was not a widow though she appeared as such in the eyes of the people. Jesus’ loving eyes had rested on her. We will taste the same joy if, like her, we will be able to offer our poor hearts entirely to the Lord.
Prayer is the heart of the life of the Community of Sant'Egidio and is its absolute priority. At the end of the day, every the Community of Sant'Egidio, large or small, gathers around the Lord to listen to his Word. The Word of God and the prayer are, in fact, the very basis of the whole life of the Community. The disciples cannot do other than remain at the feet of Jesus, as did Mary of Bethany, to receive his love and learn his ways (Phil. 2:5).
So every evening, when the Community returns to the feet of the Lord, it repeats the words of the anonymous disciple: " Lord, teach us how to pray". Jesus, Master of prayer, continues to answer: "When you pray, say: Abba, Father". It is not a simple exhortation, it is much more. With these words Jesus lets the disciples participate in his own relationship with the Father. Therefore in prayer, the fact of being children of the Father who is in heaven, comes before the words we may say. So praying is above all a way of being! That is to say we are children who turn with faith to the Father, certain that they will be heard.
Jesus teaches us to call God "Our Father". And not simply "Father" or "My Father". Disciples, even when they pray on their own, are never isolated nor they are orphans; they are always members of the Lord's family.
In praying together, beside the mystery of being children of God, there is also the mystery of brotherhood, as the Father of the Church said: "You cannot have God as father without having the church as mother". When praying together, the Holy Spirit assembles the disciples in the upper room together with Mary, the Lord's mother, so that they may direct their gaze towards the Lord's face and learn from Him the secret of his Heart.
The Communities of Sant'Egidio all over the world gather in the various places of prayer and lay before the Lord the hopes and the sufferings of the tired, exhausted crowds of which the Gospel speaks ( Mat. 9: 3-7 ), In these ancient crowds we can see the huge masses of the modern cities, the millions of refugees who continue to flee their countries, the poor, relegated to the very fringe of life and all those who are waiting for someone to take care of them. Praying together includes the cry, the invocation, the aspiration, the desire for peace, the healing and salvation of the men and women of this world. Prayer is never in vain; it rises ceaselessly to the Lord so that anguish is turned into hope, tears into joy, despair into happiness, and solitude into communion. May the Kingdom of God come soon among people!
For the sick, in memory of the dead, for peace
