XXXII Sunday in Ordinary Time.

O. T. XXXII (B) I KINGS 17:10-16; HEB 9:24-28; MARK 12:38-44

You might know the story of Oseola McCarty. She died just a few years ago at the age of 91. She was an African-American woman from Mississippi, who earned a living by washing and ironing other people's clothes. McCarty, who never married, was in the 6th grade when she had to leave school and take over her mother's laundry business while she cared for a sick aunt. She never had a car. Only recently at the urging of bank personnel, did she buy a window air conditioner for her home. McCarty's arthritis forced her to retire in December of 1994 at the age of 86.

McCarty scrimped and saved, however, until she was able to leave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi to set up scholarships for other needy African Americans. Contributions from more than 600 donors have added some $330,000 to the original scholarship fund of $150,000. After hearing of Miss McCarty's gift, Ted Turner, a multi-billionaire, gave away a billion dollars. He said, “If that little woman can give away everything she has, then I can give a billion.” McCarty just said, “I want to help somebody's child go to college.” “I can't do everything,” she said, “but I can do something to help somebody. I wish I could do more. But what I can do I will do."

Today’s readings invite us to make a total commitment to God’s service with a humble and generous heart free from pride and prejudice. The first reading and the gospel today present poor widows who sacrificially gave their whole lives and means of livelihood to God, symbolizing the supreme sacrifice Jesus would offer by giving his life for others.

Jesus was sitting opposite the place where the offerings were put, and he was observing the people make their donations as they come into the temple. Remember that as there is no paper money, all of the offerings make a terrible noise as they roll down this long horn shaped object and fall into the pool of coins. And here comes this little old lady and she has two small coins worth nothing and drops them in. They barely make a noise. You can almost see the Temple leaders as they roll their eyes and hope for better results with the next person who walks in the door. Jesus then calls his Disciples over and says, “This poor widow has put more in to the treasury than all the others.” To the Sadducees this woman is a waste of time, but to Jesus she is the stuff by which Kingdoms are erected. It was not the woman's poverty that made her gift significant for Jesus. For him, it was the fact that this widow alone, among all the contributors lined up to give their offerings, gave her all. She gave herself totally into God’s hands with the sure conviction that He would give her the support she needed.

God prefers generosity from the Heart. The gospel shows that there are two ways of being generous: the way of the scribes, and the way of the widow. The Scribes gave to stoke their vanity, increase their comfort, and enhance their reputation. They considered themselves superior because they gave more time, talent, and treasure to the Temple than anyone else. But this was a one-dimensional view of generosity. They considered that they were doing God a favor by serving him; the widow understood that God was the one doing the favors. The scribes were forgetting that all those external things were actually gifts God had given them in the first place. What God truly wants from us is something more, something deeper: he wants our love; he wants us to trust in him. This is what the poor widow gave to him. The offering God wants from us is not just our stuff, but our hearts and lives.

We need to remember that God doesn’t need any money from us. If He is God, he should not be in any want. Why then should we give to Church and to God ? Can’t God take care of His church and its ministry ? One thing we need to remember that God doesn’t ask any donations from us. He is not begging anything from us. He doesn’t want anything that really belongs to us. Why should we give to him that belongs to us ? The reason why we need to give is” He gave us everything and so he is asking us to show our gratitude by giving back a small amount of what he gave to us. He knows human heart, once it is in human hands it is very hard for him to give back even to God who gave them all to him. So by giving back to God/Church what God gave to us we acknowledge our dependence on God and show our gratitude to him. Scripture says I desire obedience and not sacrifice. So God wants to see how obedient we are to him. I need to give to God because I love him. We can give without loving, but we cannot love without giving. In every love we give something to the loved. In ideal marriage a husband gives himself unconditionally to his wife and vice versa. But in loving God we give not only ourselves, but also the things or persons we love- to God. There should not be anything outside of that love. That is why Jesus says, if anyone should come after me he should renounce/hate his father, mother, wife, children and even himself. By our giving to God or to church we are practicing that kind of renunciation.

Once a pastor gave a talk on the need to renovate their church. At the end of the talk baskets were passed around for collection. One man took $50 dollars to put in the basket and just then a small piece of plaster fell right on his head. So he put the $50 bill back in his pocket and took $500 in the basket. The man next to him was watching all this. Fisting his hand he wished and prayed “ Lord hit him again ”.

People donate to particular need because they love and cherish that cause. If we give to God and church it should not be for any particular need. When I see no worthy cause , I would stop giving. So I should give to church not because that there is a need there for money or my service, but because I feel I need to give as a gratitude to God. When I feel that way I would give what I can afford to give, not less nor more. If I give to a need, then if the cause does not merit my proper attention I would not give. If I am not convinced of the urgency of the need I wouldn’t give. God does not give us blessings because we need it more because he loves us. So we also need to give him out of love.

He evaluates us on the basis of the sacrifices we make for others and on the degree of our surrender to God’s holy will. The offering God wants from us is not our material possessions, but our hearts and lives. What is hardest to give is ourselves in love and concern, because that gift costs us more than reaching for our wallets. Today you are required to fill in the offertory program forms. The criterion for our decision should be “ How much did I receive from the Lord, and “ is what I promise now a enough return to thank the Lord.
Health care reform bill is hot these days. There is a bulletin insert this week from the US bishops calling the Catholics to prevent heath care reform from being derailed by the abortion lobby. This insert has gone over to all the 19000 parishes all over the country. I request you to take a closer look at that.