Sunday Homily, November 8, 2015, 32nd Ordinary Time
Readings:
1 Kings 17, 10-16, Please bring me a small cup of water to drink.
Psalm 146, Praise the Lord, my soul.
Hebrews 9, 24-28, Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands.
Mark 12, 38-44, The poor widow with the 2 small coins, The Widow's Mite.
Genevieve & Mary say, "Good Morning, Everybody, Welcome in."
Kings:
Author & date of composition: the work is a compilation of numerous sources put together near the end of the Babylonian Captivity, ca. 555.
Subject Matter: 1 Kings is part of a 4 book work that includes 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings. The 3 kings are Saul, David, and his son, Solomon.
The work begins with Samuel, the last great judge, continues through the lives of the 3 kings, and finally shows how Solomon’s sons’ squabbles led to the division of the Jewish nation into two states, north & south, Israel & Judah. Both states were defeated and the people of both were taken into captivity as slaves.
The people of Israel never returned from Syria. The people of Judah taken into the Babylonian Captivity maintained their tribal identify and came back to Jerusalem, which had been wrecked. The Babylonian Captivity ended on a high note when Cyrus of Persia defeats Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, and allows the Jews to return to Jerusalem.
Cole, a Master Candle Lighter, at work.
The Theme: you be good, good things happen to you; you be bad, bad things happen to you.
Our selection: 2 great prophets lived when the kingdom divided, Elijah & Elisha. They criticized the bad ways of the sons of King Solomon. In this selection, Elijah tells the king he is going to send a drought to the king's land. Then Elijah goes away & meets a poor, starving widow with a son. Watch what happens. This is setting us up for the Widow's Mite story in the gospel.
Another team of Master Helpers, Kevin & Georgina
Today’s Widow’s Mite
This morning I would like to talk about the two ladies in our readings, the lady with her son getting ready to eat their last meal before dying and the famous Widow’s Mite. Let's make it contemporary.
A story to exemplify.
Ever hear about Nathan Bradley?
Narthan Bradley is a policeman. In fact, he is a GA State Trooper. He is young, 25 years old, and has been working as a trooper for a year and a half.
Is that an angel that I see? Why, Yes, it is Victoria.
This past Halloween Saturday afternoon Nathan was on duty when he was called to cover a traffic accident. He discovers when he arrives that a young couple have been killed. Somehow he checks out where they live, which was not far away. He decides to go to their house to report the deaths to whomever lives there.
He goes to the house and rings the bell. The inside door is opened cautiously and Nathan discovers 4 children aged 13 to 6, all dressed in their Halloween costumes. The kids tell him their parents have gone to buy some face paint at the corner.
Is that another angel that I see? Yep, it is Zoe
On the spot Nathan makes 2 decisions. He cannot tell them about their parents’ deaths. In fact, he decides he has got to make this Halloween special for them .
So he bundles them into his squad car and takes them first to McDonald’s, hamburgers, milk shakes, the whole deal. Then he takes them on a tour of the state trooper complex. They play trick or treat. Finally they have a sleep-over at the station.
Remember that nice little kid we talked about last Sunday…..
During this time a call has been made to a grandmother in Jacksonville. She is driving up to take care of the kids.
With the kids bedded down, Nathan is not finished. To help pay for expenses, like the funerals, Nathan goes on line and sets up a fund on Go Fund Me, hoping to collect $7,000. As of yesterday, Saturday, one week from Halloween and the accident, the fund had reached $400,000.
Are there not sensitive and generous people everywhere around us?
Here he is, like a few years ago, Noah before.
3 quick observations on The Widow’s Mite.
Three observations.
First, this is a marvelous call to help and to contribute, not just money, but so much else, my time, my positive strokes of others, my efforts to help kids recover from deaths, like Nathan Bradley.
Cupcake of The Week to Mike & Dee.
Secondly, watch out. A trap here. See Mark’s use of infinite demand? Am I supposed to likewise contribute all I have, my whole livelihood? Not quite, which leads to my next point.
Thirdly, want to know why I did not want to take up a formal collection at our liturgies? Because the churches I was part of as a young boy always pushed money. These little stories guilted me. I bet a lot of parishioners are hearing this morning how they should be donating to their parish. Tithing is the norm, 10%. It is a really literal approach to the story.
How are you helping others?
Source: I found this story on line, Outlook Express, Friday, 11/6/15.
Cupcake of The Week to Rosemary on her birthday, the 14th