Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 155

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.

 I  was born three years after the end of World War II, but I remember the spirit of sacrifice that held America together during that conflict of almost four years. As the economy reeled like a drunken sailor on a heaving ocean of returning veterans, housing shortages, and new technologies, my parents married in 1946 and maintained the practice of living with less as they bore seven children in ten years, and four more in their second ten years of marriage. As devout Catholics they would not practice any form of birth control. Their children also learned to make sacrifices during our formative years. We were not taught shopping as a form of recreation; and we never learned to play with money.

Our first home, circa 1950

But sacrifice is a practice; it never becomes a habit. And like most of the baby boom generation, we're not so eager to live with less in our retirement years. We think we've earned it and deserve to live better. 

Americans still speak of sacrifice, but we expect it only of military personnel and other public servants like police and school teachers. Young people can make do on military bases, living in small government-built apartments and shopping consignment shops, Goodwill, and Vincent de Paul stores. They can find support in local churches. 

The rest of us are assured we can save money, lose weight, eat well, vacation, cruise, and gamble without sacrifice. If our television, radio, and internet media use the word sacrifice, it's accompanied by no, not, or unnecessary. If we're actually supported on the backs of the working, unorganized poor, well, it’s their own fault for being poor.

We don't even hear about the sacrifice of the Mass very often, although some Catholics -- about 28% -- still assemble weekly for that purpose. Some theologians have argued that the Mass is a ceremony to remember and revive our values, but it's not the sacrifice of Jesus to his heavenly Father. That was accomplished a long time ago. And so neither are our prayers a sacrificial offering for sin. We can cash in on the Lord's ancient ordeal without our own efforts to scrupulously practice religion and support the church or its mission.

That, of course, is not the belief which has sustained the Church through many centuries of controversy, confusion, and martyrdom. As we celebrate November with All Saints and All Souls Days we remember the innumerable sacrifices of those who now lie in their quiet graves awaiting the Judgment Day. And we wonder if we're doing enough to prepare for that day of reckoning, and of heaven and hell. 

In today’s first reading, we hear a widow’s lament as she prepared her last meal for herself and her child. Despite her desperate poverty, the Prophet Elijah commanded her to bring him a cup of water and “a small bit of bread.” When she heard his reassuring promise and put her faith in that word, she did as she was asked, and, 

She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah 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.

Perhaps the poor widow who put two small coins in the temple treasury in today’s Gospel remembered that same story as she contributed from her poverty, all she had, her whole livelihood. Certainly, Jesus remembered and insistently pointed it out to his disciples. Perhaps he also remembered his own parents' sacrifice; and his widowed mother's sacrifice as she watched her only begotten son – “all that she had, her whole livelihood” – set out for Jerusalem and Calvary. 

These stories of widows and their sacrifices remind us that the life of sacrifice is not an option for the people of God; it is demanded. As Jesus said, “Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more. (Luke 12:48)

Clearly, in the first verses of today’s gospel, much had been given to those “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 had been given much but they were taking even more. The Lord said they “devour the houses of widows;” and “they will receive a very severe condemnation."

Our economy runs on the principle, “them that has, gets.” Or as the hit song of 1921, Ain't we got fun. "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer." But the Lord's words remain, “...they will receive a very severe condemnation.”

When Jesus uttered the original proverb, “For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.” he was not citing the hit song of 1921, “Ain't we got fun.”, The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer.” 

Rather, he was speaking of the spiritual poverty we Catholics are supposed to have. Because we are baptized and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus we are deeply in debt, and we know we cannot possibly repay God for what he does for us. We enjoy an assurance of salvation and with that assurance we can sacrifice much. There are so many privileges and opportunities and pleasures that we do not need and should not want. The disciples of Jesus, practicing his discipline, do not suffer lust for carnal knowledge, useless information, 24-7 news, or wanderlust. They do not surf TV channels or the Internet for mindless entertainment.

We can hardly imagine why people need so much security, so many powerful machines, so much stuff, and crude pleasures. We don’t know where they’re coming from, but they should see that we come from the Lord and will return to him. 

“To everyone who has, more will be given…” is a promise and an invitation. We must stop frequently, consider what we have been given, and say. “Thank you for that.” We make, as the scripture says, a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a sacrifice of eucharist. 

As the Christmas shopping season descends upon us, we do well to celebrate Thanksgiving first, and remember everything we’ve been given, everything we don’t need, and everything others do need. We do well to resume our customs of sacrifice during these end times; and to acknowledge, appreciate, say thanks, and be satisfied with all we’re given.