THE LORD THWARTS THE PATH OF THE WICKED

XXXII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Mark 12:38-44

In this Sunday’s liturgy, the widows come to the forefront. In the first reading, we hear about the widow who lived in the Phoenician city of Sarepta. She had a son, she was poor to the point of starving and she was a foreigner, living in Sarepta near Sidon. In spite of being a pagan, she welcomed Elijah and shared with him the last food she had, trusting in God’s promise conveyed to her by the prophet who had run away for his own safety from the unfaithful people of Israel. Jesus would use the example of the widow of Sarepta as an indictment against those who refused to believe him. The outsiders (the pagans) proved to be more willing to listen to the message of salvation than the members of the people of God. This remains as a warning to us. We should not be overconfident, taking God for granted and thinking that belonging to the Christian Church is enough guarantee of salvation.

In the Gospel, we are presented with another widow, who, in spite was extremely poor, offered to God everything she had, thus putting herself totally in God’s hands. Humanly speaking, her attitude looks like foolishness. How could she give the little she had, without thinking about the day of tomorrow? The poor don’t think about tomorrow, leaving that to God. They are like the birds who have no stores to gather their food and live day by day, getting whatever they can find (Mt 6:26). They put their lives in the hands of God and entrust themselves to him. The widow knew how precarious her life was and in that precariousness, she knew that her life depended on God’s mercy and on the people’s compassion. Giving all she had, she gave herself, making a profession of faith in God’s care and love. That’s why Jesus praised her and presented her as an example that brings out the vain show-off of the rich who, although giving a lot, don’t feel at all the pinch of their offering. Offering what they don’t need, they don’t offer themselves.

The passage of the widow’s offering comes immediately after Jesus’ denunciation of the Scribes. They were experts of the Scriptures and doctors of the Law, thus having a big influence on the people and being highly respected. They were people full of themselves, proud and arrogant, living on the people and exploiting the widows pretending to console them. The Scribes put on a mask of holiness, demanding to be recognised as masters. Because of that, “the more severe will be the sentence they receive” (Mk 12:40).

“It is the Lord who loves the just,

the Lord, who protects the stranger.

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan

but thwarts the path of the wicked.” (Ps 146:8-9).