1 Kings 17:10-16
As we approach the end of the liturgical year – the Feast of Christ the King is in just two weeks and Advent begins in three weeks – the focus of our Sunday readings turns to the end times and what is expected of those who claim to be faithful disciples of the living God. As disciples, we are expected to know and live out the covenant relationship that God has initiated and we have accepted. Jesus is the norm by which we are to live as Christians. Today’s readings offer much wisdom and reflection that challenge us to do that.
This Sunday, we will hear from the First Book of Kings. Again, the passage was clearly chosen to prepare us for the Gospel. We will be hearing a portion of the Elijah cycle, which runs 1 Kgs 17 – 2 Kgs 1:18. It is a composite taken from a cycle of stories that are not intended to provide a biography of Elijah but rather to demonstrate the authority and efficacy of the prophet and his prophetic word. Elijah suddenly appears after 1 Kings recounts the division of the great kingdom of Judah with the death of Solomon and the reign of the kings in both kingdoms. Let’s pull out our Biblical Timeline and see where these kings fit in. The name Elijah – אליהי – means “my God is Yahweh.” He is one of the most important figures in Old Testament history, for he overcame the attempts by Jezebel, wife of Ahab, to introduce the worship of Baal in Israel. The first event associated with Elijah is recounted, in part, in our reading this Sunday. Let’s read 1 Kings 16:29 – 33 and all of entire chapter 17 to better understand the story and to get a sense of the efficacy of Elijah’s word. We learn about King Ahab marrying Jezebel, a foreign wife, who brought with her devotion to Baal, who claimed control over rain and the land’s fertility. The Lord responds by showing, through Elijah, his prophet, that rain and fertility are in the hands of Israel’s God, not Baal. All of this prepares us for the short passage we will hear on Sunday.
10 He left and 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 “As the LORD, your God, lives,” she answered, “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 “Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “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.
(Continue to read the remainder of the chapter)
The biblical image of a widow is powerful. In a patriarchal culture, she has no political, economic or social status. Since she has no one to take care of her, her life is harsh and fragile. The widow in this reading is providing for her son – to the end – and yet, is willing to share their last morsel of good with a stranger. She is a gentile who does not know the Jewish God or Elijah the prophet. She has nothing. Yet, she is concerned enough for a stranger that she is willing to share even the little she has. This demonstrates that she is a woman of faith and love – all that God requires. Such human faith and love is rewarded a hundredfold by God, who supplies our needs beyond our expectations.
Mark 12:38-44
This week, we continue to hear from Mark’s Gospel. This passage follows very shortly after we hear Jesus teach that love of God and love of neighbor are the greatest commandments (cf. vvs. 25 – 34). This Sunday’s reading begins with Jesus’ warning about seeking approval from others instead of God. Just as in the first reading, this reading speaks of a widow. See the notes on Mark 7:1-23 and Matthew 23:1-39. The passage we will hear on Sunday may have been taken from a larger compendium of sayings attributed to Jesus, as we find in Matthew 23 and Luke 11:37-53.
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,
long robes: their wearing of the long prayer shawls for other than prayer and religious duties was an ostentatious display of piety.
accept greetings: they were often greeted with deep ceremonial bows in recognition of their superior position.
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.”
They devour the houses of widows: since women were prohibited from managing their financial affairs, the religious men – and especially scribes, who could read and write – acted as their trustees and were well-known for over-compensating themselves for their services.
41 He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums.
sat down opposite the treasury: Jesus has been in the temple area, where there is a treasury; this is where all the temple treasures are stored and people came to pay their temple taxes. Some of these taxes would be used to care for the destitute in Jewish society.
See the note on Luke 21:1-4.
rich people put in large sums: you could hear the amount that was given because, in a time before paper money and checks, all donations were given with coins and dropped into metal strong boxes; the bigger and more numerous the coins, the louder the sound.
42 A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
A poor widow… two small coins: She put in about 1/64th of a daily laborer’s wage (pass around the Widow’s Mite). Due to her dire poverty, this was a very great sacrifice. And, like the widow in this Sunday’s first reading, she is demonstrating great faith in God, trusting that he will care for her.
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.”
This story probably is intended to be a prelude to the laying down of Jesus’ life, which he predicts in the beginning of chapter 13. But, in both readings, we also see a very vulnerable person – a widow – put her faith in God and share from her meager possessions to care for others. These readings lead us to evaluate all of our “religious” activity. The underlying questions are: “Whom do we serve?” and “Who are we trying to impress?” We should be trying to impress God and serve him because he is our ultimate judge.
Hebrews 9:24-28
We hear again from the Letter to the Hebrews. This passage contrasts the temple and sacrifice of the Old Covenant with that of the New Covenant. We don’t often think of the Mass as a Sacrifice these days although most of us are old enough to remember the title “Sacrifice of the Mass.” We focus today on the the Eucharistic Celebration, an act of thanksgiving for all of God’s blessings. But, the greatest of God’s blessings is his coming to save us from our sinful ways and from the consequences of our sins. The ancient Israelites understood this. Temple worship focused on the priests offering sacrifices for the people. But, we have in Jesus, the one, true sacrifice who offered himself, once-for-all, for us. This Sunday’s second reading provides a good summary of this essential aspect of our faith.
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.
Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands… but heaven itself: the high priest who enter the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple, once a year to stand before God, whom the ancient Jews believed dwelt in the Temple. Jesus, on the other hand, has entered heaven – the New Jerusalem – and stands before God to intercede for us.
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.
At the end of the ages: the use of expressions such as this shows that the author of Hebrews, despite his interest in the Platonic concept of an eternal world above superior to temporal reality here below, nevertheless still clings to the Jewish Christian eschatology with its sequence of “the present age” and “the age to come.”
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.
To take away the sins of many: the reference is to Isaiah 53:12. Since the Greek verb anaphero can mean both “to take away” and “to bear,” the author no doubt intended to play upon both senses: Jesus took away sin by bearing it himself. See the similar wordplay in John 1:29. “Many” is used in the Semitic meaning of “all” in the inclusive sense, as in Mark 14:24. To those who eagerly await him: Jesus will appear a second time at the parousia, as the high priest reappeared on the Day of Atonement, emerging from the Holy of Holies, which he had entered to take away sin. This dramatic scene is described in Sirach 50:5-11.
Our readings this Sunday teach that we are to put our trust in God’s loving care and that we have a responsibility to care for others. God’s word is effective, caring for our needs. And, through his Son, Jesus, he has taken away our sins so that we can be saved. These are fundamental teachings of our faith; we do well to reflect on them especially now as we approach the end of yet another liturgical year.