November 12, 2024 Fr. Foeckler’s Lecture Note

[Michaela]

Fr. Foeckler’s Lecture Note

 

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 155

Reading I

1 Kgs 17:10-16

In those days, Elijah the prophet went to Zarephath.
As he arrived at the entrance of the city,
a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her,
“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.”
She left to get it, and he called out after her,
“Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,
I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug.
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid.
Go and do as you propose.
But first make me a little cake and bring it to me.
Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'”
She left and did as Elijah had said.
She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well;
the jar of flour did not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.

 

Reading II

Heb 9:24-28

Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands,
a copy of the true one, but heaven itself,
that he might now appear before God on our behalf.
Not that he might offer himself repeatedly,
as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary
with blood that is not his own;
if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly
from the foundation of the world.
But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages
to take away sin by his sacrifice.
Just as it is appointed that human beings die once,
and after this the judgment, so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

 

Gospel

Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds,
“Beware of the scribes, 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.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other 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.”

 

There’s a poor widow who put the 2 pennies into the treasury of the chapel. There are several urns you can put your donation in the chapel. They are registered by how much they are paying by the scribes. At the time of Jesus, scribe or a scripture scholar, sometimes was called a lawyer, was scribing all activities.

 

Last week the scribe was very good in understanding of the Lord’s law, and answered well. This time the scribes were being scolded, taking advantage of the widows but not sharing what they have taken from the poor. The scribes who devour the house of widows, may be compared to the scammers of current time.

 

Here’s the last week’s gospel.

 

Gospel

Mk 12:28b-34

One of the scribes came to Jesus and asked him,
“Which is the first of all the commandments?”
Jesus replied, “The first is this:
Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
The second is this:
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
There is no other commandment greater than these.”
The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
‘He is One and there is no other than he.’
And ‘to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself’
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding,
he said to him,
“You are not far from the kingdom of God.”
And no one dared to ask him any more questions.

 

This week, Jesus was bewaring of the scribes. He is criticizing them, saying they should know better as is in the second commandment, love your neighbor. He points out that the widow is more generous than others for she put down her livelihood, whole fortune. She loves God to the point where she gave her whole livelihood. Our smallness needs to be offered for the guidance of the Lord.

 

This prayer was written by St. Ignatius of Loyola.

 

Take, O Lord, and receive my entire liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am and all that I possess You have given me: I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace; with these I will be rich enough, and will desire nothing more.

 

We surrender the use of us and everything we have to God. Surrender to the guidance of the will of God. Name one thing that you have that you have not received from God. Nothing. All the things in our live, we received from God. Everything we have, we have received.

 

Jesus is asking us to examine ourselves. Do we really believe that we love God with our whole hearts? We need to acknowledge what we have received from Him and to return it to Him.

 

It is important to give back to him by loving our neighbor with the faith in Him and the trust in Him.

Dearest Lord, teach me, show me, share with me, how to be generous. Teach us to serve him by share with others, our neighbors generously.

We make mistakes. We all are learning to be generous. Understand that exercising generosity is how we grow it. Keep exercising giving away.

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