Bothersome Widows

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year B (11 November 2018)

1 Kings 17:10-16. Hebrews 9:24-28. Mark 12:38-44.

“This widow put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

This Sunday's liturgy celebrates two widows. In the legendary story from the collection of stories about Elijah we meet a widow reduced to starvation because of drought and consequent famine (1 Kings 17). Assured by Elijah, she expresses her faith in a simple yet extraordinary way. She shares with the prophet the meager food she has got. God promises to bless and protect her. The psalmist celebrates this God who in a clear and preferential way cares for the forgotten and discarded in human society (Psalm 146).

The widow noticed by Jesus has a basic characteristic by which Jesus described himself, “The Son of Man has come to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45) and the widow is commended when “she put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” “Her two small copper coins” dropped into the treasury as a gift to God are the symbol of her self-giving, a total gift. Note, she could have kept one! But she didn't. Total self-offering, total generosity.

The narrative has some interesting features. Jesus, busy all day, sat and watched the crowd putting money in the treasury. The narrator allows us to watch with Jesus’ eyes. His attention moved from the many rich people who were putting in large sums to the poor widow and her two copper coins (the contrast could not be greater). His words to his disciples, called to his side, first of all correct the obvious prevalent view, probably shared by the disciples. Let us recall to our mind some Jesus' remarks about the wealthy, including "that tainted thing" that we reflected on yesterday. Jesus says, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” This view would value the religiosity of people in proportion to the size of their contribution. Jesus emphasizes that the poor widow has put in far more than all, including the wealthy with their large gifts. He also compares not only their abundance and her poverty but the total gift. Therefore, he commends her.

Both widows are bothersome as they make us uncomfortable–our “all” is really just a portion, often quite small. Jesus invites and challenges us to a self-giving that embraces more and more of ourselves. Love in marriage and friendship also matures, deepens, and grows the more we approach “the all we have.”

Contrasted to this wonderful widow we have the sanctimonious and hypocritical scribes who devour widow’s houses! Unfortunately, down the centuries the clergy have often been seen to be the successors of these scribes. The indictment is sharp and harsh. There is a sobering realism about both scenes. The Lord Jesus we are with in prayer and the Eucharist is no fool. He has seen life, seen through the masks we wear; and knows us too well. He cuts away with a surgeon’s knife all the pretense in human life and asks us to look at truth. Religion can mask so much hypocrisy, and so many apparently good attitudes and actions.

Let us allow the two widows to disturb us, and also remember the widows whose “houses” are plundered. Let us allow God to take centre stage in our lives and loves.