Word to the Wise
Sunday, November 11, 2012 - 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time - B
[1 Kgs 17:10-16; Heb 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 or 12:41-44]Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.
Two sharply contrasting images confront us in the gospel scripture today: the scribe and the widow. Both were recognized positions in society. The scribe was an educated person, an expert in the law, who could read and write. Much of the bureaucratic side of life - contracts, official communications - was handled by these men. In the very status-conscious Middle Eastern world of Jesus' time (and even now), the scribe was a person of prestige and in a position to do much good or much harm. Jesus accuses them of doing more harm than good.
The role of widow was also recognized but her situation would be precarious. The independent woman of our times would not exist in Jesus' day. Every woman had to belong to a male, whether it be her husband, father or oldest son. If she had none of these, she would be reduced to begging. [Remember how Jesus entrusts his own mother to the Beloved Disciple. John 19:26-27] The widow in today's gospel came to fulfill a duty to the temple which had the impact of depriving her of her last penny. Although the collections in the temple were supposed to be used, in part, to take care of widows and orphans, the money was often siphoned off to elaborate temple furniture or vestments, etc. This is what Jesus' refers to in the first part of today's gospel when he accuses the scribes of "devouring the houses of widows."
One of the important characteristics of the early Christian community was its care for the widows and the poor. I preach parish missions in many different places. Much can be learned about a parish by reading the Sunday bulletin. In parishes that obviously have considerable resources, one can look in the bulletin to see what kind of "outreach" to the poor is going on. The widow's "mite" in today's gospel is painful and should not have been necessary. This was one of the "burdens" that Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of laying on people's shoulders. Can we, in our parish churches, be adequately sensitive to the needs of the poor? Does this have to take place only at Thanksgiving and Christmas? The scribe and the widow, for different reasons, both have something to teach us. AMEN