Daily Reflection Friday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

I’m taking the liberty of speaking about tomorrow’s gospel reading rather than today’s. There’s not a lot one can say of today’s passage. There were probably many times Jesus must have argued with the scribes about things they liked to argue about when they applied to himself or his teaching (I’m sure he ignored most other of their arguments as mere vanities). Today’s passage is one of the very few of those that the gospels record.

Saturday’s gospel passage that follows immediately upon today’s in Mark 12, is very different. Jesus uses his little argument with the scribes as an opportunity to then rebuke them. Interestingly, his rebuke very much describes the clergy down through the ages, “who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets… [and] recite lengthy prayers.” As is said, a word to the wise…! But what condemns the scribes is that they also use this influence and position to extort wealth from the poor, “They devour the houses of widows.” That is because the scribes and Pharisees used the temple as a kind of bank, lending money (at high interest) to people to buy property and holding mortgages which they then ruthlessly foreclosed on if even one payment was not made (thus Jesus’ zealous “cleansing of the temple” recounted in all four gospel accounts). And for that, Jesus says (rather fearsomely), they will pay dearly.

Finally, Jesus observes. I am certain that Jesus was the greatest observer of all time. There was nothing that escaped his observation, nothing he was unaware of in his world and age. I have no doubt that he spent much time, as he does in today’s reading, simply sitting and watching, watching the behavior of all the people around him. Today he watches people putting money in the poor box (remember when every Catholic church had a poor box at its entrance?). He then comments (to his disciples, we must gather) about what he observes and in so doing immortalizes the poor, elderly widow who shuffled up to put in her few cents (the widow’s mite). Jesus tells us that she gave far more than all the large donations the rich so ostentatiously, no doubt, had put in, because she gave virtually everything she had.

The theme of poverty and the trap and illusion of wealth runs all throughout the gospels: “Blessed are the poor; Woe to the rich!; What does it profit one to gain the whole world and lose your soul?; You cannot serve both God and mammon; Go sell everything you have and give the money to the poor; It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter the Kingdom; So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God; He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.” Then there is the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus; Jesus’ lowly birth in a manger; Jesus telling John’s disciples to go tell him that the poor have the good news preached to them.

And finally, the widow’s mite. We are all familiar with the saying, “Give till it hurts.” This might be seen in opposition to, “Give what you can afford.” It is far more difficult to give in a way that causes real sacrifice, in a way we actually cannot afford, but this is the kind of giving that will truly be blessed. Remember the famous short story by O. Henry called The Gift of the Magi? In that charmingly sentimental tale, a young and poor couple have no money to buy one another a Christmas present. So she cuts her long, beautiful hair and sells it and he sells his grandfather’s gold watch. Then on Christmas day, she presents her husband with a beautiful platinum watch chain, and he presents her with a set of beautiful, ornamental hair combs. It was their love for each other that made the sacrifice a joy.

“If you love those who love you, what merit is there in that?” Jesus said. The poor often do not seem terribly lovable. And yet, we are all poor in that we are all but poor sinners who Jesus gave his life for. The letter of James warns us to honor the poor “whom God has chosen to be heirs of the Kingdom.” James also tells us, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above.” And then we remember the greatest gift of all and what it cost, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.” We very much need to ask ourselves in the words of Psalm 116, “What return can I make to the Lord for all God’s goodness to me?” What could possibly be too much? Let us pray for a generous heart!