Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time Lees meer
Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
First Reading
1 Kings 17,10-16
So he went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Addressing her he said, 'Please bring a little water in a pitcher for me to drink.' She was on her way to fetch it when he called after her. 'Please', he said, 'bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.' 'As Yahweh your God lives,' she replied, 'I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we shall die.' But Elijah said to her, 'Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son. For Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: Jar of meal shall not be spent, jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.' The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as Yahweh had foretold through Elijah.
Psalmody
Psalm 145
Antiphon
Blessed are they who hope in the Lord.
My soul, give praise to the Lord;
I will praise the Lord all my days,
make music to God while I live.
Put no trust in princes,
in mortal men in whom there is no help.
Take their breath, they return to clay
and their plans that day come to nothing.
He is happy who is helped by Jacob's God,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who alone made heaven and earth,
the seas and all they contain.
It is he who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free,
the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down,
the Lord who protects the stranger
and upholds the widow and orphan.
It is the Lord who loves the just
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion's God, from age to age.
Second Reading
Hebrews 9,24-28
It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was merely a model of the real one; he entered heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. As it is, he has made his appearance once and for all, at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since human beings die only once, after which comes judgement, so Christ too, having offered himself only once to bear the sin of many, will manifest himself a second time, sin being no more, to those who are waiting for him, to bring them salvation.
Reading of the Gospel
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Mark 12,38-44
In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.' He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.'
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Homily
The Gospel scene opens on a note: "The large crowd was listening to him with delight." Why? 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. 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. 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 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. 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? Jesus looks at them. He looks at them as he gazed at that widow who made her offering for the temple. Jesus sees her throwing her two coins in the treasure. 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. However, Jesus looked with affection and admiration at that woman. Only Jesus gives her attention. Jesus teaches the disciples, who were absentminded or focused only on impressive things, to look with love and care at the smallest things.
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.
Het gebed is het hart van het leven van de Gemeenschap van Sant’Egidio. Het is haar eerste “werk”. Aan het einde van de dag komt elke Gemeenschap, of die nu klein of groot is, samen bij de Heer om het Woord te beluisteren en zich tot Hem te richten in het gebed. De leerlingen kunnen niet anders dan aan de voeten van Jezus zitten, zoals Maria van Bethanië, om het “betere deel” te kiezen (Lc 10, 42) en van Hem zijn gezindheid te leren (vgl. Fil 2, 5).
Elke keer dat de Gemeenschap zich tot de Heer richt, maakt ze zich die vraag eigen van de anonieme leerling: “Heer, leer ons bidden!” (Lc 11, 1). En Jezus, meester in het gebed, antwoordt: “Wanneer jullie bidden, zeg dan: Abba, Vader”.
Wanneer we bidden, ook in de geslotenheid van ons eigen hart, zijn we nooit alleen of verweesd. Integendeel, we zijn leden van de familie van de Heer. In het gemeenschappelijk gebed wordt naast het mysterie van het kindschap, ook dat van de broederschap en zusterschap duidelijk.
De Gemeenschappen van Sant’Egidio, verspreid over de wereld, verzamelen zich op de verschillende plaatsen die gekozen zijn voor het gebed en brengen de hoop en het verdriet van de “uitgeputte en hulpeloze mensenmenigte” waarover het Evangelie spreekt (Mt 9, 37) bij de Heer. Deze oude menigte omvat de inwoners van onze hedendaagse steden, de armen die zich bevinden in de marge van het leven, en iedereen die wacht om als dagloner te worden aangenomen (vgl. Mt 20).
Het gemeenschappelijk gebed verzamelt de schreeuw, de hoop, het verlangen naar vrede, genezing, zin en redding, die beleefd worden door de mannen en vrouwen van deze wereld. Het gebed is nooit leeg. Het stijgt onophoudelijk op naar de Heer opdat verdriet verandert in vreugde, wanhoop in blijheid, angst in hoop, eenzaamheid in gemeenschap. En het rijk Gods zal spoedig temidden van de mensen komen.
