32ND SUNDAY B
YOUR JAR WILL NEVER GO EMPTY
32nd Sunday
Foremost in people’s mind today
is security. We want ourselves to
be safe, our money to grow, our businesses to flourish, our studies to be
smooth, our lives to be prosperous. To be secure, we resort to accumulation,
hoarding, investing, piling up supplies and keeping to ourselves valued
necessities. In every election period, people screen
candidates according to their capacity to deliver a more stable life for all.
The readings today address our
quest for security. In the heart
of God and of His Son, what is the secret to living peacefully, plentifully and
abundantly? We are in for a big
surprise: it is not supplying my
needs, but giving to those in need.
The first reading (1 Kings 17)
shows us a poor widow preparing her last meal for herself and her son, after
which they will surely die because of their poverty. The prophet Elijah surprisingly challenges her to share her
meager food with him. In the midst
of her protest, the prophet speaks God’s promise: the jar of flour shall never go empty, the jug of oil shall
never run dry. The widow trusted
God’s word and gave from her poverty.
Though she did not get rich, she and her son never lacked their basic
needs!
Because we are afraid to
experience want, we resist the invitation to be generous in giving and sharing
with others. Don’t we often
wonder: If I give, what will happen to me? What is there in it for me? Will I not be the one begging? Why give away to others what I worked hard for? I am also poor, I also need help.
However, it is very clear, that
God’s promise of security and abundance is not for the selfish but for the
selfless. You do not have to be
rich to be able to share. The poor
in fact, give us more compelling examples of love and sacrifice when they give
from what little they have.
I remember an incident when I
brought a group of children to fast food meal one day. Each one got a hamburger, fries and
drinks. While all the kids were
happily munching their meal, a boy, from a poor family, merely sipped from his
drinks while neatly preserving his burger and fries. I wondered if he were full. But it turned out that it was his first time to eat this kind
of food and he remembered his younger siblings at home with whom he wished to
share his portion.
In the gospel (Mark 12), the Lord
Jesus makes the same point. The
rich were giving from their surplus for the upkeep of the temple. But there came an old widow who had no
other money than the one she dropped in the collection box. For Jesus, that woman’s donation far
outweighed the extravagant spectacle of the rich donors.
It does not only feel good to
give. Giving is a source of rich
blessings. Yes, we may be poor and
simple. But that does not
disqualify us from becoming generous distributors of gifts. The disciples remembered Jesus saying:
it is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35). Like our widows, do you
believe God’s promises? Do you
want to experience the superabundance of grace in giving?
