Other Sunday and Holy Day Readings
32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Cycle B)
Readings:
1 Kings 17:10-16
Psalm 146:7-10
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44
Abbreviations: NABRE (New American Bible Revised Edition), NJB (New Jerusalem Bible), RSVCE (Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition), IBHE (Interlinear Bible Hebrew-English), IBGE (Interlinear Bible Greek-English), or LXX (Greek Septuagint Old Testament translation). CCC designates a citation from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The words LORD or GOD rendered in all capital letters is, in the Hebrew text, God's Divine Name YHWH (Yahweh).
God reveals His divine plan for humanity in the two Testaments, and that is why we read and relive the events of salvation history in the Old and New Testaments in the Church's Liturgy. The Church's Universal Catechism teaches that our Liturgy reveals the unfolding mystery of God's plan as we read the Old Testament in light of the New and the New Testament in light of the Old (CCC 1094-1095).
The Theme of the Readings: The Art of Self-Giving
The First Reading and the Gospel Reading address the subject
of giving. The focus of both teachings is that it is not what you give but why
you give. All giving should be motivated from the heart in genuine self-giving without
any concern for a reward. In both readings, a poor Gentile widow (the First
Reading) and a poor Jewish widow (the Gospel Reading) made offerings worth very
little materially. However, these women were precious to God because they offered
gifts from their meager resources that represented a generous heart.
In the Responsorial Psalm, we hear the contrast between the fate of the righteous and the wicked. It recalls Jesus's Sermon on the Plain when He blessed the poor and promised judgment against the rich when they failed to use their blessings of material wealth to help the poor and instead ignored the plight of the humble and dispossessed (Lk 6:20-26). Our psalm reading should also remind us of Jesus's description of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. Those who purposely choose throughout their lives to ignore the command to be self-giving to those in need will face God's divine judgment and find themselves deprived of entrance into the Promised Land of Heaven.
In the Second Reading, the inspired writer focuses on God's spiritual representative, the Jewish High Priest, and his service in the Jerusalem Temple. At the Temple, he accepted the people's sacrificial gifts and continually offered the blood of sacrificial victims to atone for their sins and to provide for the people's sanctification to restore their relationship with the Lord. The inspired writer compares the Old Covenant anointed Jewish high priest and his service to Jesus's service as the anointed Son of God. The Jewish high priests served in the earthly Temple, but Jesus serves as the New Covenant High Priest, presiding in the heavenly Temple. In His role as the eternal High Priest, Jesus prays continually for the covenant faithful in every generation and presents the ongoing single sacrifice of Himself that He gave for the expiation of sins for all humanity on the altar of the Cross.
In the Gospel Reading, Jesus contrasts a poor widow with the hypocritical, pretentious, and money-loving scribes who "devour the houses of widows." Instead, Jesus directs His disciples' attention to a poor widow who does not place material wealth before her duty to God. Instead, trusting God with a faithful and generous heart, she gives what little she has to the Temple's donation box to support the poor. The generous self-giving of her contribution counted more with God because she gave out of her poverty; therefore, her gift was greater than the large donations others gave out of substantial wealth.
In the Liturgy of the Mass, as Christ's representative, the priest offers Jesus's sacrifice and His prayer for us in the Eucharistic celebration. We, in return, receive His gift as we pray: "We offer You in thanksgiving for this holy and living sacrifice. May He [Christ] make us an everlasting gift to you" (Eucharistic Prayer III).
As those who profess belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we must offer acts of charity in genuine self-giving, like the widows in the First and Gospel Readings. From our resources, no matter how meager, we give to the poor, and we continue Jesus's earthly ministry by supporting His Kingdom of the Church. We also make every Eucharistic celebration an act of genuine self-giving through the offering of ourselves united to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, as we receive the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The sacred meal of the Eucharist is God's gift to us that He promises, like the widow's jar of flour and jug of oil in the First Reading, will never "run out" until the Lord Jesus returns. And in our self-giving, we should joyfully sing with our mouths and our hearts the words from today's Psalm: "Praise the Lord my soul."
The First Reading 1 Kings 17:10-16 ~ The Generous Gentile
Widow of Zarephath
10 In those days,
Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the
city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, "Please bring
me a small cupful of water to drink." 11 She
left to get it, and he called out after her, "Please bring along a bit of
bread." 12 She answered, "As the
LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour
in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now, I was collecting a couple of
sticks to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten
it, we shall die." 13 Elijah said
to her, "Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first, make me a
little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and
your son. 14 For the LORD, the God
of Israel, says, 'The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run
dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" 15 She left and did as Elijah had said. She was
able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; 16 the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the
jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
The entire region of the Levant was devastated by drought and resulting famine that the prophet Elijah foretold at God's command as a judgment against the worship of the false Canaanite and Phoenician god, Baal (1 Kng 17:1). To protect His prophet from the wrath of King Ahab of Israel and his pagan wife Jezebel, God told Elijah to journey to a Mediterranean coastal city in the Phoenician territory to seek refuge with a widow (1 Kng 17:2-9). Elijah's life was in danger from King Ahab and his Gentile wife, who promoted Baal worship. Yet, God commanded him to go into the very center of Baal worship to seek refuge among pagan Gentiles. God commanded Elijah to go to Zarephath in Sidonia, where He had moved the heart of a Gentile widow to give him food and lodging (1 Kng 17:9).
10 In those days,
Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the
city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, "Please bring
me a small cupful of water to drink."
The prophet Elijah saw a widow gathering sticks. Her
activity was an indication of her poverty. Unless she had a grown son to
support her, a widow was entirely on her own and lacked the means to support herself.
It must have shocked the prophet that Yahweh told him to seek refuge in the
home of a Gentile, Phoenician woman, but he obeyed without questioning the
command.
Zarephath, a town on the Mediterranean coast, was located eight miles south of the prosperous Phoenician trading city of Sidon. Sidon was the birthplace of Jezebel, the daughter of the King of Sidon and wife of King Ahab of Israel. Elijah probably recognized the woman as a widow by her widow's clothing that was typically worn long after the mourning period (Gen 38:14 and Jdt 8:5; 10:3; 16:8). He knew that the woman didn't have enough resources to sustain herself, much less him, but he understood that Yahweh's words, "I have ordered a woman there to give you food," to mean that a miracle was going to come from his association with the woman.
Elijah tested the woman in three ways:
Elijah testing the woman to see if she was the one Yahweh chose by requesting water recalls the testing of another woman by Abraham's servant in Genesis 24:10-20. The servant Abraham sent to find a bride for his son Isaac in the Aramaean homeland of Abraham's extended family tested Rebekah's generosity. He asked for water in Genesis 24:17 to see if she was the one Yahweh selected as a wife for Isaac. In the story of Elijah and the widow compared with Abraham's servant and Rebekah, God's servant discovered the right woman using the same tactic. Rebekah only underwent one test, but Elijah tested the widow three times. God blessed both women for their generous response to a traveler's request.
12 She answered, "As
the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of
flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now, I was collecting a couple
of sticks to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have
eaten it, we shall die."
The Gentile woman knew that Elijah was an Israelite who
worshiped Yahweh. The dress and habits of Israelites who worshiped Yahweh made
them stand out from other people in the region. For example, Israelites could
not cut or shape their beards, as was the custom of Gentile men, and all Israelite
men faithful to Yahweh wore an outer cloak with tassels at each of the four
corners (Lev 19:27;
Num 15:37-39;
Dt 22:12;
Mt 9:20; 23:5 and
1 Kng 19:13).
Elijah's widow was a very patient woman. She was in desperate straits, Yahweh was not her God, yet she did as Elijah requested. The widow's act of mercy and self-giving for the sake of a stranger counted toward her salvation both temporally and spiritually. As a reward, Elijah gave the woman a blessing in the name of Yahweh, telling her for the entire time until the end of the drought that her jar of oil would never run dry and her jug of meal would always be full (verse 14).
15 The woman went
and did as Elijah told her, and they ate the food, she, himself, and her son. 16 The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of
oil emptied, just as the LORD [Yahweh] had foretold through Elijah.
God fulfilled Elijah's prophecy. The woman and her son did
not go hungry during the entire period of the drought because of the woman's generosity
to a stranger in need and because she cooperated in God's plan for His prophet's
care. When we give as the widow gave in a self-giving sacrifice, we are also
blessed, and the spiritual blessing is worth much more than the material gift. The
Fathers of the Church saw the self-giving of the Gentile widow and the blessing
God gave her as foreshadowing His blessing in welcoming the Gentiles into the
New Covenant of Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm 146:7-10 ~ The Lord sees the needs of
the Poor and Needy
Response: "Praise the Lord my soul." Or "Alleluia."
The LORD keeps faith forever, secures justice for the
oppressed, gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets captives free.
Response:
The LORD gives sight to the blind; the LORD raises up
those who were bowed down. The LORD loves the just; the LORD protects strangers.
Response:
The fatherless and the widow he sustains, but the way of
the wicked he thwarts. The LORD shall reign forever; your God, O Zion, through
all generations. Alleluia.
Response:
Psalm 146 is the first psalm of the third group of Hallel ("praise God") psalms that the Old Covenant faithful recited in the Tamid morning daily Liturgy in the Jerusalem Temple. To learn more about the daily Liturgy of worship in the Jerusalem Temple, see the book, "Jesus and the Mystery of the Tamid Sacrifice."
The psalmist announces that God meets the needs of the most vulnerable in society:
God does all these things through the self-giving works of the righteous who perform acts of charity in His name. These are the just ones who the Lord God loves throughout human history and in the covenant community of His Church.
In our Psalm passage, the Lord's protection of the righteous recalls the description of the fate of the just in Psalm 1 (as opposed to the wicked) and the Book of Wisdom Chapter 3. It also recalls Jesus' "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke 6:20-26. In His sermon, Jesus blessed the poor and dispossessed, promising them God's eternal blessings but eternal judgment for the rich who ignored their suffering and did not use their blessings of wealth to help them. Psalm 146 should also remind us of Jesus' description of the Last Judgment in Matthew 25:31-46. Those who purposely choose throughout their lives to ignore the command to be self-giving to those in need of help will face God's divine judgment and will find themselves deprived of entrance into the Promised Land of Heaven.
The Second Reading Hebrews 9:24-28 ~ Jesus, Our
One Perfect Sacrifice
24 For Christ
did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven
itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. 25 Not that he might offer himself
repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the Sanctuary with blood
that is not his own;26 if
that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the
world. But now, once for all, he has appeared at the end of the ages to take
away sin by his sacrifice. 27 Just
as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, 28 so also Christ, offered once to take
away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to
bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
Earthly things are not in themselves holy—they must be purified, which made the Old Covenant purification rites necessary. Heavenly things/creatures, however, are already pure. From the time of Adam and Eve's fall from grace, the sacrificial blood of animals accompanied by confession and contrition became a cleansing and atoning symbol that foreshadowed Christ's one perfect sacrifice. Thus, God established blood sacrifice as the means for expiating sin: Since the life of a living body is in its blood, I have made you put it on the altar, so that atonement may thereby be made for your own lives, because it is the blood, as the seat of life, that makes atonement (Lev 17:11).
However, unlike the Old Covenant High Priest who offered multiple communal animal sacrifices for the entire covenant people on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16; Num 29:7-11), Jesus, our High Priest, only offers His blood. His is the one perfect sacrifice that has the power to forgive sins through His flesh and blood. Thus, He fulfills what had only been a symbol in past ages but would forever serve as the cleansing and purifying act of expiation necessary for humanity's salvation.
if that were so, he would have had to suffer
repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now, once for all, he
has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.
What Jesus offers is one perfect but ongoing sacrifice. God
selected Him before the foundation of the earth to offer His life in atonement
for humanity's sins (1 Pt 1:20-21).
In Hebrews 9:26-27, the inspired writer refers to the yearly sacrifices on the Feast of Atonement, known in Hebrew as Yom Kippur, "Day of Covering." The blood sacrifice of animals "covered" to sins of the covenant people in a communal reconciliation sacrifice. Sirach 50:5-24 describes the Jewish High Priest offering sacrifices for the atonement of the people's sins on the Feast of Atonement: How splendid he was as he appeared from the tent, as he came from within the veil! Like a star shining among the clouds, like the full moon at the holy day season; like the sun shining upon the Temple, like the rainbow appearing in the cloudy sky; like the blossoms on the branches in springtime, like a lily on the banks of a stream; like the trees of Lebanon in summer, like the fire of incense at the sacrifice; like a vessel of beaten gold, studded with precious stones; lie a luxuriant olive tree thick with fruit, like cypress standing against the clouds; vested in his magnificent robes, and wearing his garments of splendor, as he ascended the glorious altar and lent majesty to the court of the Sanctuary (Sir 50:5-11). In these verses, the people's expression of thankfulness for the High Priest's ministry, whose service brought atonement and restoration of communion with God, should pale in comparison with our expressions of gratitude for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ in His ministry as our High Priest, offering atonement for our sins in the heavenly Sanctuary!
The words "At the end of the ages" in Hebrews 9:26 signifies the Second Advent of Christ. It will be the end of the world as we know it, and the de-creation and regeneration that will occur at that eschatological event in the passing away of the old heaven and earth and the birth of a new creation (see Mt 24:37-44; Lk 17:26-27; 34-35; 1 Cor 15:23-28; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Tim 2:3-4; 2 Pt 3:10-13; Rev 20:11- 21:2; and CCC# 1001-2).
27 Just as it
is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, 28 so also Christ, offered once to take
away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to
bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.
After death, the soul of every person experiences an individual
judgment (see CCC# 1021-22). This judgment eliminates any discussion of the
theory of reincarnation for Christians (see CCC# 1013). For human life on earth,
death is a one-time-only, unrepeatable act. The exceptions are in the case of
Lazarus (raised to life by Jesus) and also others who were miraculously raised
from death through the intervention of medical science (with the consent of
God) to live and die again (these medical exceptions, however, are resuscitations,
not resurrections). The Preface of Christian Death I in the Roman Missal
reads: Lord, for your faithful people, life is changed, not ended. When the
body of our earthly dwelling lies in death, we gain an everlasting dwelling
place in heaven.
As death comes to most mortals as an unrepeatable act, so too Jesus's bloody physical death on the altar of the Cross was a sacrifice offered once and for all time, achieving atonement and redemption for humanity as a whole. All subsequent offerings of His one unique sacrifice are therefore unbloody, as in the sacrifice of the Mass (see CCC# 1330 and the document "Is the Eucharist a True Sacrifice?").
In Hebrews 9:28, to take away the sins of many is a quote from the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah 53:12 reads, Therefore I will give him his portion among the great, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because he surrendered himself to death and was counted among the wicked; and he shall take away the sins of many, and win pardon for their offenses (bold emphasis added). The Greek verb anaphero [an-af-er'-o] used in this phrase can mean either to "take away," "take up," or "to bear." The inspired writer makes use of the double meaning of the verb to convey, by His atoning death on the Cross, that Jesus both bore our sins and took them away. St. John uses a similar wordplay in the Gospel of John 1:29
The word "many" in 9:28 has the Semitic meaning of "all" in the inclusive sense, as it also in Mark 14:24 in Jesus's words at the Last Supper: He said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed for many." The inspired writer uses the visual image of the High Priest disappearing into the Holy of Holies to offer sacrifice for the people on the Day of Atonement and then reappearing after God's acceptance the sacrifice in the sign of the smoke rising to Heaven from the Altar of Incense. He compares the event to Jesus's Ascension to the Father as the perfect sacrifice in the visible sign of the Glory Cloud, as the Apostles and disciples saw Him leave the earth to enter the heavenly Sanctuary (Acts 1:9), and His promised return in the Second Advent (Acts 1:9-11). For the Prophet Daniel's vision of Jesus entering the heavenly Sanctuary, see Daniel 7:9-14 that is what happened after Jesus left the disciples on the Mount of Olives in Acts 1:9. Jesus quoted from Daniel's vision in Daniel 7:13-14 at His trial before the Jewish Sanhedrin, after which the High Priest immediately condemned Him (Mt 26:64-66).
We have the assurance that Jesus will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him (Heb 9:28). When Jesus returns (in what we call His "Second Advent" or "Second Coming"), He will complete the process of our salvation. Then, in a final act, God will end the present earthly existence and inaugurate a new Heaven and earth, uniting the holy family of God of all generations into one eternal Kingdom (2 Pt 3:10; Rev 20:11, 21:1-5).
The Gospel of Mark 12:38-44 ~ Denunciation of the Scribes
and the Gift of the Poor Widow
38 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, 39 seats of honor in synagogues, and
places of honor at banquets. 40 They
devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They
will receive a very severe condemnation."
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd
put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A poor widow also came and put in two
small coins worth a few cents. 43 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. 44 For they have all contributed from
their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood."
God the Son continues to "come against" the failed religious leadership in fulfillment of Ezekiel 34:1-25. Jesus's condemnation of the scribes for their hypocrisy is similar to His judgment against the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7:2-5. Widows were especially vulnerable if they didn't have a living son to support them. Jesus accused the scribes, in their business dealings, of confiscating the homes of widows who were unable to support themselves and, at the same time, pretending piety in their prayers while demanding the positions of highest honor at social gatherings or in the Synagogues. Jesus proclaims that the judgment for their cruel acts against the poor will be severe (see Jesus's judgment against the heartless rich in Lk 6:24-26).
Mark 12:41-44 ~ The Poor Widow's Temple Donation
41 He sat
down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums. 42 A
poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. 43 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. 44 For
they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty,
has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."
Within the Temple complex was a treasury where people could donate
to support the poor (Neh 10:38; Josephus, Jewish Wars, 6.5.2 [282]). The
widow deposited two copper coins (lepta), the smallest value coins in
circulation (Johnson, The Gospel of Luke, page 316). In the ancient world,
all currency was in coins; therefore, when the wealthy threw in their contributions,
the sound of their coins was considerable, while the poor widow's two coins
only made two small sounds as they fell into the box. She is one of the anawim,
the poor and afflicted "lowly ones" mentioned in the Old Testament who find
their solace in God alone (Is 29:19; 61:1;
Zeph 2:3) and to whom Jesus promised
justice and vindication in His Discourse on the Plain in Luke 6:20-26. Widows
had no inheritance rights and had to rely on their children or male relatives
or the charity of other members of the covenant family to take care of them as
commanded by Mosiac Law (Ex 20:12;
Lev 19:3;
Dt 14:28-29; 24:19-21).
Jesus contrasts the poor widow with the hypocritical, pretentious, and money-loving scribes who "devour the houses of widows." Instead, Jesus directed His disciples' attention to the poor widow who did not place material wealth before her duty to God. Trusting God with a faithful and generous heart, she gives what little she has to support the poor. The generous self-giving of her contribution counts more with God because she gave out of her poverty, and the percentage of her gift was far greater than the large donations others gave out of substantial wealth.
In which category do you fall? Are you generous in your self-giving as an agent of God, bringing comfort and justice to the poor and dispossessed of society? God will reward acts of self-sacrifice when you face His throne of eternal judgment. One cannot compare His eternal reward to any of the benefits one might have had from those material goods on earth. Therefore, indulge in the act of self-giving, and God will reward you with spiritual blessings in this life and the next.
Catechism References (* indicates Scripture quoted or
paraphrased in the citation):
1 Kings 17:7-16 (CCC 2583*)
Hebrews 9:24 (CCC 519; 662; 2741*); 9:25 (CCC 662); 9:26 (CCC 571); 9:27 (CCC 1013; 1021*)
Mark 12:38-40 (CCC 678*); 12:41-44 (CCC 2444*)
Christ gave His life for us (CCC 519*, 520*, 521)
Poverty of heart (CCC 2544*, 2545, 2546*, 2547*)
Almsgiving (CCC 1434*, 1438, 1753*, 1969*, 2447*)
Elijah and conversion of heart (CCC 2581, 2582*, 2583*, 2584*)
The Particular Judgment (CCC 1021*, 1022)
Michal E Hunt, Copyright © 2015; revised 2021 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.