THE WIDOW’S OFFERING

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

It is always good to read attentively a passage of the gospels and allow ourselves to be questioned by it. In this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus appears to be confrontational as if he is intent on provoking the scribes, that is the experts on the Scriptures and the Law of Moses. And this is not an isolated incident. Time and again, we see Jesus being harsh with scribes and the Pharisees, who were people of great influence on the people. Jesus was not afraid of denouncing attitudes that he considered false. Nowadays, in many situations, the Church tries to accommodate herself to the prevalent ideology of the times, being afraid of proclaiming the truth straightforwardly. We must always remember that we are called the light of the world and the salt of the earth. So many times we speak with all caution afraid of hurting those who stray from the way of the Lord. Even though Jesus was always ready to listen and to dialogue, he was not afraid to denounce and to question false attitudes, mainly of people who should know better.

The scribes’ attitudes denounced by Jesus can be found in the Church, especially in her leaders. We may start with a deep desire of serving the Lord and the cause of the Gospel and end up serving ourselves and making us the centre of all attentions. There is always the danger of putting the Church at our service, leading us to abuse the community we should serve. When we look for prestige, influence and power, we become entangled in our selfishness. Jesus threatens such kinds of people with punishment.

In the second part of this Sunday’s gospel, Mark presents Jesus sitting down and observing the people as they put their offerings in the box. A poor widow called his attention: she put in the box two small coins. Her contribution might be considered irrelevant, making no difference in the final accounts of the treasury. However, the amount of our contribution does not matter to God. We cannot use the money to buy our salvation or bribe God with it. For God, money is a useless thing. Thus, it is not surprising that Jesus praise the poor widow, because she gave everything she had. With her offering, she entrusted herself to the Lord. She behaved as the handmaid of the Lord who is sure of his caring love. Day by day she depended on the Lord and the Lord takes good care of his people.

Indeed, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3).