The Scripture readings ask us to look at ourselves instead of comparing ourselves to others
Most of us have plenty of options to make life comfortable and convenient. When we hear certain Scriptures, as we do on the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, we might be tempted to find an individual who is more affluent than we are. But there is no need to compare. These Scripture readings ask us to look at ourselves instead of comparing ourselves to others.
We are given the example of widows, from both the Old and New Testaments, who exercise an incredible level of trust in God as they live their own meager lives. When they are asked to tithe or share what they have, they do so despite having little to divide among their many needs. It is obvious from these readings that each of these widows considers their relationship with God to be of the utmost importance in their lives. Even though they are connected with imperfect societies and imperfect churches of their day, they don’t use that as an excuse against being generous to those in need.
When Elijah, the prophet, meets the widow at the entrance to the city, he finds her at a tough moment in life. She is preparing to make a fire to make her last bread cake. After that, she is up to the whims of life. She has no more flour or oil. It doesn’t make sense, in worldly wisdom, to give away what little she has and share it with a prophet. But she does. Through this act of faith, she doesn’t become extremely wealthy but continues to have enough each day to feed herself. Elijah noticed that her faith and trust don’t lead to extravagance and excessive convenience but simply to have enough to live and eat.
From the Gospel passage, Jesus sat opposite the treasury, observing the way people were acting. He noticed a poor widow who gave a lot of what little she had. From her poverty, she shared much of what she had to live on. If we use our worldly wisdom, we would call that ignorance and irresponsibility. Isn’t it true that we blame many impoverished people for their inability to manage their money like we do?
Widows in Elijah’s time and Jesus’s time had few options. Their husbands were gone. They would be seen as a drain on society unless they had a rich relative to care for them. And yet, Jesus notices these widows as great examples of faith and charity.
I suggest that we begin to notice how much we compare ourselves to other people. We do that sometimes to feel better about ourselves and maybe even judge others as less than we are. We sometimes compare ourselves to others to excuse ourselves from a responsibility we seem called to. Notice how often we compare ourselves to other people.
Jesus asks us to be generous to the point of sacrifice. Just as Jesus gave His whole life out of love for us, we are asked to follow in His footsteps and do the same for our friends and enemies.
Catholics today often hear that we want to be a prophetic presence in our culture. What would be more prophetic than a willingness to sacrifice for our enemies? Instead of always trying to prove people wrong, might it be more persuasive to choose to love those who hate us? We know that the first judgment against us would be that we’re being foolish. Sounds very much like how Jesus lived.
Father Donald Wester is retired and serves as lecturer of homiletics at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.
