Word to the Wise
Monday, November 24, 2008 - Dominican Martyrs of Vietnam
[Revelation 14:1-3, 4B-5 and Luke 21:1-4]I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the restl for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.
The English writer, Samuel Johnson (I think), is supposed to have said, "The prospect of being hanged in a fortnight can make a man concentrate mightily!" The prospect of death does have the effect of changing the whole way we look at things. Prisoners of war report this. People on death row report this. Those who are terminally ill report this. For this reason, the incident reported in today's gospel scripture takes on a different tone when we realize that it is placed in the chapter of the Gospel of Luke that immediately precedes the passion story. Jesus is in Jerusalem and has already warned his disciples of his sufferings yet to come. If his sense of his destiny was strong before the journey's end in Jerusalem, it is very powerful at this stage. Almost everything in life becomes colored by the looming fate. The widow comes and gives what is materially everything she has to meet her obligation to the temple and thus, to God! Jesus' comment can thus be understood on several levels. There is a system in place that is cruel to the most vulnerable, namely widows, in that society. There is the generosity of the widow! But there is also the understanding of a complete sacrifice or commitment, which would soon be Jesus' fate! One can only wonder what went through the minds of those Dominican martyrs in Vietnam whose feast we celebrate today. Yet their martyrdom places their entire lives into a perspective of commitment. We read them through their sacrifice! We immortalize the widow in scripture for her sacrifice. We worship before an image of Jesus Christ crucified and read his life through that sacrifice! The Lord's comment makes the "widow's mite" a mighty sacrifice. Perhaps we can meditate on those whom we know have made great sacrifices for us or for whom we have made the same sacrifices. Most of us are not in danger of death anytime soon - but the reminder could "make us concentrate mightily!" AMEN
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