Year B
Discover the deeper meaning and connections found in this week's readings, through these great commentaries written by our priests.
Explore this week's readings and hear what God is saying to us through His Word.
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In the scriptures we use today, we hear about giving at times which are difficult.
In our first reading the poor widow had barely enough for her and her child to eat but she was persuaded by the prophet Elijah to share what she had with a promise of reward from God if she shared. The widow shared what she had; and she was rewarded according to the promise.
In the second reading we are reminded that Christ gave his life to save our souls; Jesus gave His life in obedience to His Father so that his followers would be rewarded according to His promise.
In the Gospel we hear about another widow, who Jesus uses as an example for us all. She gives everything she owns to the temple and trusts in God’s providence for her own survival.
God is generous, everything we have is provided by Him; God looks after us. If we share what He has given us, God tends to give us more. This is because God looks for ways to share his benevolence further, the more generous we are with what God gives us the more generous He is with us. However, we do not always get exactly what we give back, nor should we give only to receive. God rewards us according to our needs, not our wants.
It would be easy and wrong for us to look upon generosity on a purely financial basis. For example, when we go to Mass, we need to remember that God loves a cheerful giver. Sometimes when we go to Mass, we are burdened by what is going on in our life and this can lead to distractions, resulting in us being unable to take part fully in this most wonderful celebration. At other times, we may even grudge the time we spend at Mass; believing there may be something more worthwhile or interesting elsewhere. These are the times when we need to offer all of these distractions, all of those things which are trying to pull us away from the Lord; and give Jesus the two small coins of our attention and intention. [1]
Do we give our time and attention cheerfully whilst we are in Mass? Do we take part fully in the prayers, singalong cheerfully with the hymns? Are we paying attention fully to what is happening on the Sanctuary, or do we allow our thoughts to drift to what we are planning to do afterwards? Do we come along to watch a performance or are we fully engaged? Do we offer our intentions for the Mass up in prayer, handing over the things which worry us or distract us? Just like those in the temple that day, we are still under the watchful eyes of Jesus. He sees the secret places of our hearts where we make decisions. He sees our motivations. Would we prefer to be seen as the rich people or as the poor widow? Do we approach our faith half-heartedly or are we all in?
Each of us can answer these questions for ourselves ; and be prepared for the consequences of our thoughts and actions on judgement day.
[1]Placid Murray OSB, 100 Liturgical Homilies, [The Columba Press, Dublin,1988]101.
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
CCC 519-521: Christ gave his life for us
CCC 2544-2547: poverty of heart
CCC 1434, 1438, 1753, 1969, 2447: almsgiving
CCC 2581-2584: Elijah and conversion of heart
CCC 1021-1022: the particular judgment
This Sunday is observed in the UK as Remembrance Sunday, and one Mass may be celebrated for the repose of the souls of all who died in the wars of our time.
The Prayer over the offerings for this Sunday, like many of its kind, is a densely packed text and does not yield well to ‘word for word’ translation. It returns to a frequent theme, that celebrating the ‘mysterium’ i.e. the ritual action that ‘presents’ the Passion of the Lord, we may ‘follow it up’ (consequamur is more than just ‘honour it’) with ‘pio affectu’ i.e., the practical and many sided day-by-day response of discipleship which we owe to the Lord. The Latin word ‘pio’ is stronger than our English ‘loving’ as it implies loyalty, fidelity and familial bonds. This prayer is a case where a strong and accurate paraphrase would better convey the sense of the prayer than does the literal translation of our Missal.
Note: These hymns have been chosen from different sources.
Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour (CFE379, L769, LHON444, TCH121)
All my hope on God is founded (CFE21, L959, LHON119, TCH200)
My God, accept my heart this day (CFE495, L872, LHON479, TCH244)
Take my hands (CFE676, L608, LHON639)
Take my life (CFE677, L874, TCH263)
Key
CFE - Celebration Hymnal for Everyone
L – Laudate
LHON – Liturgical Hymns Old and New (Mayhew, 1999)
TCH – The Catholic Hymnbook (Gracewing)
Do you have questions about the liturgy and how we are called to participate in it? Explore how the Church councils, saints, and popes have answered this key question and many more.
Every movement of the Mass is rich in meaning but we can become over-familiar with it. Rediscover the Mass and explore how it relates to the Exodus story, where many of its rituals come from, and how it makes Jesus present to us today.
