32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 10, 2024

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Be slow to judge holiness, or the lack of it, by appearances

Mark 12:38–44

In the course of his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.

They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.

For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

Music Meditations

Opening Prayer

From Sacred Space, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Jesus, help us to be alert to our selfishness and our judgmental attitudes toward others. We are far from loving our neighbors as ourselves, and yet that is what you ask us to do. We cannot profess to love you and act with thoughtlessness to our neighbor, so teach us, Lord.

Companions for the Journey

Commentary on the Gospel by Daniel Harrington, S.J. in “America” (a Jesuit weekly publication)

Who Is Holy?

“This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury” (Mark 12:43)

The central characters in Mark’s Gospel are Jesus and the Twelve, though a number of minor characters are spread throughout the entire narrative. At the end of Chapter 10, however, a series of lesser characters emerge, who (in contrast to the Twelve, who become increasingly obtuse) respond to Jesus in remarkably positive ways. They include Bartimaeus, the friendly scribe of last Sunday’s reading, the generous widow in today’s text, the woman who anoints Jesus at the beginning of the passion narrative, Simon of Cyrene, the centurion at the cross, the women at the cross and at Jesus’ tomb and Joseph of Arimathea, who sees to Jesus’ burial. The reader is encouraged to admire and identify with these figures. Today’s passage from Mark 12 features a contrast between scribes, who carefully cultivate their reputation for holiness, and a poor widow, who really is holy.

In Jesus’ time scribes wrote out legal and other documents for people who were illiterate. They were experts in Jewish religious traditions and knew Israel’s Scriptures very well. Bear in mind that the religious law for Jews was the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). The scribe combined the roles of lawyer and theologian.

The description that Jesus gives of the scribes in today’s passage from Mark is very negative. (Recall, however, his positive attitude toward the friendly scribe in Mark 12.) Jesus first accuses them of being ostentatious in their piety and of doing everything in public in order to gain a reputation for holiness. Then he charges them with using their position to take advantage of widows, the most defenseless members of Jewish society in Jesus’ time. They are condemned for making their reputation for piety a cloak to conceal their dishonest and profitable dealings. These scribes are not really holy. They provide negative examples of behavior to be avoided by Mark’s readers.

By way of contrast, the Markan Jesus points to the poor widow as a positive example of generosity and the true religious spirit. The scene takes place at the Jerusalem temple, a large complex of structures more like a campus than a cathedral. There seem to have been there several trumpet-shaped metal receptacles into which people could throw coins for the upkeep of the temple. Those who threw in many coins would make a lot of noise, while the widow who tossed in two small coins would make hardly any noise at all.

In this context Jesus points to the poor widow as a good example, a model of humble generosity. Even though she contributed little in quantity, the quality of her giving—she gave all she had—makes her into a good example to be imitated. This “minor” character reminds us that genuine holiness resides in a humble and generous spirit before God. Holiness does not always reside in religious professionals, like the scribes, in those who are learned in the things of God and with a public reputation for holiness. As a Catholic priest, biblical scholar and public religious person, I know that none of these roles is an absolute guarantee of holiness and closeness to God. There is more to holiness than ordination, theological education and public position.

For the generous widow the religious activity of almsgiving was not intended as a show to impress others or an opportunity to improve her social and economic status. For her, as one totally dependent on God and without social or economic importance, her action was what a religious action should be (as in Matt 6:1-18)—an expression of love of God and love of neighbor.

The lesson from the contrast between the scribes and the poor widow is this: Be slow to judge holiness by appearances only and be slow to equate holiness with office, credentials and honors. Look beyond appearances and externals, and you may well find to your surprise some very holy persons. These persons are loving and generous—not full of themselves and their own achievements—and knowing and acknowledging their dependence on God. Though only a minor character, the poor widow in today’s Gospel passage shows us that genuine holiness can exist in some surprising persons and places.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

She, out of her poverty, gave everything she had

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

    Note: language about “the poor” is very uncommon in the gospel of Mark. So we should take note when it appears.
  • Is it human nature to seek proper recognition for our position or our accomplishments?
    Does our society encourage this tendency?
    What does Jesus say about this very human trait?
  • Have I ever been quite impressed with someone, based on her position or title, his car or dress, or other external measurement?
    Have I ever judged someone negatively based on appearances or demeanor, only to revise my opinion after I got to know him or her?
  • In our culture, how much do we dwell on what makes us different, separate, better than those around us?
    What is the role of ambition in our spiritual life?
    What does it mean to cultivate “downward mobility”?
  • Thomas Merton said; “No person enters heaven alone.” What does that mean in terms of our own spiritual development?
  • From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:
    Do I think too much about what others think of me?
    Does this influence my behavior?
    Am I ashamed of who I am?
  • What image do I try to project to the world?
    How does this affect my behaviors?
  • The many and heavy coins the wealthy put into the collection made a lot of noise. The widow’s coin was so small that very likely no one heard it. Have I ever done something for someone or given ostentatiously so that everyone know of my generosity?
    Have I ever given in secret?
    What does that say about my motives?
  • Do we encounter hypocrisy in our society?
    In our Church?
    In our politics?
    In our relationships?
    How do we counter this?
  • In what instances are the less significant “devoured” by those who are more important?
  • The New Testament is full of stories of people who were invited to risk all and follow Jesus or his message. (The rich young man, Mary Magdalene, various Apostles, the little child with the loaves and a few fishes, the “good Samaritan”, the widow in this gospel story) How difficult is this to do?
    What is the cost?
    What is the reward?
  • How did the action of the widow demonstrate her absolute (and radical) reliance on God?
    Do we “hedge our bets” when asked to risk something for the kingdom?
  • Do we act out of a mentality of scarcity or a mentality of abundance?
    How does this mind-set inform our actions?
  • How does this story of someone giving “all she had” presage the story Jesus will live out at the end of this gospel?
    Do I really believe that Jesus gave everything he had to his Father and to the mission on which he had embarked three years before?
  • From Daniel Harrington, S.J.:
    How do you define holiness?
    Can you think of any apparently unlikely persons who were (or are) really holy?
    Can you think of persons whom you once regarded as holy, but found out that they were (or are) not?
  • Who are the contemporary “widows and orphans”?
    How does society treat widows and widowers, or, by contrast, divorced people?
    What gifts might they bring to us as a community?
    Is there anything we can to about the isolation that many people in our society experience?
    How about our own community here at Stanford?
  • Do I appreciate the qualities that may be found in the old, the poor, the less important in the world?
    Do I reach out and help old or vulnerable persons?
  • What priorities in my life do I have about the use of my money, how much or little I may have?
    Do I feel I owe any of it to those less fortunate?
    Does what I give reflect my gospel values?
  • When people give money to others or to causes, which range from The Opera to Second Harvest Food Bank, what do you think is their motivation?
    Do you have a cause you feel strongly about?
    Do you give time or money? Why or why not?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

From a homily on Christ the King: “Christ and the Kingdom of Nobodies”:

Jesus, according to the famous Catholic spiritual writer Father Henri Nouwen, was about downward mobility, not upward mobility; His friends were those marginalized by the society in which they traveled: women, the uneducated, the poor, the unclean, the schizophrenic, the criminals, tax collectors and other sinners. In the Kingdom of God, the poor are the messengers of the good news. God’s kingdom is a kingdom of nobodies. A Kingdom of Nobodies.

Is that the kind of world we want?

Often, I think that we don’t “get” Jesus because we don’t want to. In order to belong to God and to one another, we must welcome all to the table of God’s bounty and love. In order to be successful in the eyes of God, we might have to re-evaluate what success means.

Take a look at Jesus’ comments on the Laborers in the Vineyard, Blind Bartimaeus, the poor widow… Listen to Jesus telling his disciples that the last shall be first and the first shall be last…

An examination of the values of Jesus’ kingdom provides a lens through which to bring the questions of our personal life into sharp focus:
What will make me happy?
What shall I do with my work?
How shall I spend my money?
Who shall be my friends?
How am I to love?

Filtering the questions of one’s personal life through the scope of the kingdom brings to light the vision on which Jesus was focused. Such a process can stamp out selfishness, vindictiveness, hatred and judgmentalism, and substitute generosity, forgiveness, inclusion and understanding, but only if we are open to change.

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Raising Questions:

Let us consider the word “risk”. To risk means to face possible loss due to our action or the lack of it. Some of us are natural risk takers; others of us are risk-averse. Certainly, in the area of money, our culture is always preaching about not being careless or foolish with our money. Will there be enough for college? Will I be able to handle the debt? How can I support a family? Will there be enough to retire? We are also cautioned not to risk our physical safety or our reputations. Conversely, The New Testament is full of stories of people who were invited to risk all and follow Jesus or his message. (The rich young man, Mary Magdalene, various Apostles, the little child with the loaves and a few fishes, the “good Samaritan”, the widow in this gospel story.) How difficult is this to do? What is the cost? What is the reward? I pick one story and meditate on the courage and the faith (read trust) it takes to stretch beyond our comfort zone. I think of a time in my life when I was asked or encouraged to do this. How did it turn out? Would I be willing to risk all? For whom? If not, what holds me back?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Relationship:

Psalm 146 is a hymn of declarative praise for all that God has done for those most in need. According to some sources (since I don’t know Hebrew, this is an act of trust) “to praise” in Hebrew also means “to thank”. What do you have to be thankful for? Write your own hymn of praise or thanksgiving for all that you have been given such as opportunities, health, even life…

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Adapted from Walter Burkhardt, S.J.

My challenge for you this week is to make a start—take a small risk—Put more than you can “afford” in the basket today. Or drop it in the basket provided by a beggar outside the supermarket. Waste an hour of precious study time with someone in the dorm who needs you. Take an afternoon off and walk on the beach to contemplate creation and thank God for it. Let God speak to you. You and God know who you are, where your gifts lie, what keeps you from risking, why you keep giving only out of your surplus. Stretch yourself. Live dangerously and live life in abundance. Risk for God. Dare to be Christ.

Poetic Reflection:

This poem, by former Stegner Fellow Thomas Centollela, invites us to step out of our place of safety, to risk all that we are and all that we have for the Kingdom:

“At Big Rec”

A few hours spent in the dry rooms of the dying.
Then the walk home, and the sudden rain
comes hard, and you want it coming hard,
you want it hitting you in the forehead
like anointment, blessing all the days
that otherwise would be dismissed
as business as usual. Now you’re ready
to lean on the rail above the empty diamonds
where, in summer, the ballplayers wait patiently
for one true moment more alive than all the rest.
Now you’re ready for the ancient religion of dogs,
that unleashed romp through the wildness, responding
To no one’s liturgy but the field’s and the rain’s.
You’ve come this far, but you need to live further in.
You need to slip into the blind man for a while,
tap along with his cane past the market stalls
and take in, as if they were abandoned,
the little blue crabs which within an hour will be eaten.
You have to become large enough to accommodate
all the small lives that otherwise would be forgotten.
You have to raise yourself to the power of ten.
Love more, require less, love without regard
For form. You have to live further in.

—from Lights and Mysteries

Closing Prayer

Jesus, you were poor and loved the poor. Help me to overcome my own need for more and more attention and praise, more and more importance, and help me to purify my attitude so that I am open to your invitation to follow you. Please help those in our world, who work so hard and who have so little. Please help me to be more generous to them and to work to change systems that keep them trapped in their poverty.