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The Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost Mark 12:38-44 |
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WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN, MY AUNT AND UNCLE ON MY MOTHER’S SIDE, AND THEIR SIX KIDS, CAME TO VISIT US FOR EASTER. SINCE THEY WERE CATHOLICS, THEY, OF COURSE, HAD TO GO TO MASS ON EASTER, AND I WILL GIVE YOU ONE GUESS AS TO WHO WAS TOLD TO TAKE THEM TO A CATHOLIC CHURCH. I HAD A FAVORITE CATHOLIC CHURCH, NOT BECAUSE I HAD EVER BEEN INSIDE, BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE OF ITS NAME. ONLY IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY WOULD YOU FIND A CHURCH NAMED SAINT ROCCO’S. EVERY TIME I PASSED IT, I WOULD IMAGINE PRIESTS WITH SHOULDER HOLSTERS AND NUNS WITH BRASS KNUCKLES, SO I TOOK THEM THERE JUST TO SEE FOR MYSELF. THE MASS WAS FINE, I GUESS, SINCE IT WAS IN LATIN, AND WHEN THE TIME FOR THE OFFERING CAME, THE USHERS HAD LONG POLES WITH BAGS ON THE END THAT THEY HELD IN FRONT OF EACH PERSON. I HAD TWO QUARTERS IN MY POCKET, WHICH WAS ALL MY WORLDLY RICHES, AND I DROPPED BOTH QUARTERS INTO THE SACK. THE MASS CONTINUED, AND, AS IT NEARED THE END, LO AND BEHOLD, THE USHERS CAME BACK FOR A SECOND COLLECTION. WHEN THE BAG ARRIVED IN FRONT OF ME, I HAD NOTHING TO OFFER, SO I DID NOTHING. THE USHER SHOOK THE BAG IN FRONT OF MY FACE, WHICH BECAME RED WITH EMBARASSMENT. I’M SURE THE INCIDENT LASTED ONLY A FEW SECONDS, BUT IT FELT LIKE HOURS. FINALLY, I LOOKED AT THE USHER AND TURNED OUT MY POCKETS. HE MADE A DISGUSTED FACE, AND MOVED ON. THE SAINT ROCCO’S OF MY IMAGINATION WAS A REALITY; IT FELT LIKE A NEW JERSEY “SHAKE DOWN.” TALKING ABOUT MONEY IS A DIFFICULT THING FOR MOST MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL, BECAUSE, ULTIMATELY, A PORTION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PEOPLE TO THE CHURCH GOES TO PAY THE SALARY OF THE CLERGY. DIFFICULT IT MAY BE, BUT IT IS INESCAPEABLE, BECAUSE ABOUT FIFTEEN PER CENT OF THE WORDS OF JESUS ARE CONCERNED WITH MONEY OR WORLDLY RICHES. SINCE WE, THE CLERGY, TALK ABOUT MONEY, RICHES AND STEWARDSHIP ONLY ONE MONTH OUT OF THE YEAR, WE ARE ABOUT ON TRACK WITH THE EMPHASIS JESUS GIVES TO THE MATTER. ACTUALLY, OUR PER CENTAGE IS A BIT LESS, BUT I EXPECT NO COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT. IN THE LAST WEEK OF HIS EARTHLY LIFE, OUR LORD SPENT A LOT OF TIME IN THE TEMPLE COURTS, TEACHING HIS DISCIPLES, AND ALL WHO WOULD LISTEN. IN THE GOSPEL FOR TODAY, HE POINTS OUT TO HIS FOLLOWERS THE HYPOCRITICAL ACTIONS OF THOSE RELIGIOUS PEOPLE WHO WALK AROUND AS IF THEY WERE GOD’S GIFT TO THE REST OF MANKIND. THEY DRESSED IN LONG ROBES, AND EXPECTED TO BE GREETED WITH RESPECT, HAVE THE BEST SEATS IN THE SYNAGOGUE AND AT BANQUETS, YET CHEAT THE WIDOWS OUT OF THEIR HOUSES TO LINE THEIR OWN POCKETS WITH CASH. THEN, THEY SAY LONG PRAYERS, AS IF THEIR DRONING IN GOD’S EARS WILL SOMEHOW JUSTIFY THEIR ACTS. TO MAKE HIS POINT, JESUS SITS DOWN OPPOSITE THE TREASURY TO WATCH THE PEOPLE CONTRIBUTE TO THE TEMPLE. THE TREASURY WAS A GREAT METAL BOX, SET IN THE COURTYARD OF THE TEMPLE, WITH TWELVE BRASS HORN – SHAPED TUBES INTO WHICH ONE WOULD DROP THE OFFERING. SINCE THERE WAS NO PAPER MONEY, WHEN THE PURSE OF THE ONE MAKING THE OFFERING WAS DUMPED INTO THE HORN, THE COINS WOULD RATTLE AND RING AS THEY WENT DOWN THE TUBE TO THE UNDERGROUND TEMPLE STORE ROOM. THE LARGER THE OFFERING, THE MORE NOISE IT MADE GOING DOWN THE HORN. YOU CAN IMAGINE HOW PROUD SOMEONE WOULD BE WHEN THE NOISE OF HIS OFFERING MADE THE CROWD STOP TO LOOK AT HIM. MANY RICH PEOPLE CAME AND PUT IN LARGE SUMS, AND, THEN, A POOR WIDOW CAME AND PUT IN TWO SMALL COINS, WORTH ABOUT A PENNEY. “TINK . . . TINK,” WAS ALL THE SOUND HER OFFERING MADE, AND IT IS DOUBTFUL ANYONE BUT JESUS NOTICED HER OFFERING. JESUS NOT ONLY NOTICED HER OFFERING, BUT CALLED IT TO THE ATTENTION OF HIS DISCIPLES. “TRULY, I TELL YOU, THIS POOR WODOW HS PUT IN MORE THAN ALL THOSE WHO ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE TREASURY. FOR ALL OF THEM HAVE CONTRIBUTED OUT OF THEIR ABUNDANCE; BUT SHE OUT OF HER POVERTY HAS PUT IN EVERYTHING SHE HAD, ALL SHE HAD TO LIVE ON.” WHAT JESUS IS TELLING HIS DISCIPLES, AND US, THAT IT IS NOT THE AMOUNT OF THE OFFERING THAT IS SIGNIFICANT, BUT THE AMOUNT OF THE FAITH OF THE PERSON MAKING THE OFFERING. THE WIDOW GAVE ALL THAT SHE HAD TO GIVE TO GOD, TRUSTING THAT, SOMEHOW, GOD WILL PROVIDE FOR HER. IT IS EASY TO GIVE WHEN YOU HAVE A LOT, BUT TO GIVE EVERYTHING TO GOD WHEN YOU HAVE ALMOST NOTHING IS AN ACT THAT CAN ONLY BE DONE OUT OF A COMPLETE AND TOTAL TRUST IN GOD. A FEW YEARS AGO, WARREN BUFFET, THE BILLIONAAIRE OF THE PLAINS, GAVE AN ASTRONOMICAL SUM OF MONEY TO CHARITY. I THINK IT WAS SOMETHING LIKE HALF HIS NET WORTH. NOW, AM NOT DENEGRATING WHAT HE DID, BECAUSE IT WAS A FINE THING TO DO, BUT THE FACT THAT HE JUST BOUGHT AN ENTIRE RAIL ROAD SORT OF PUTS IT INTO PERSPECTIVE FOR ME. HOWEVER MUCH MR. BUFFET GAVE TO CHARITY, THE OFFERING OF THE WIDOW MAKES HIS OFFERING PALE IN CONPARISON. HE GAVE OUT OF HIS AMPLE ABUNDANCE; SHE GAVE TO GOD ALL THAT SHE HAD. THE TESTIMONY OF SCRIPTURE IS CLEAR; WE ARE TO OFFER TO GOD THE FIRST FRUITS OF OUR HARVEST, THE BEST WE HAVE TO OFFER, TO GIVE BACK TO GOD FIRST BEFORE ANY CONSIDERATION FOR OUR SELVES. ALL THAT WE HAVE, ALL THAT WE ARE, COMES TO US FROM THE HAND OF GOD, AND WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE THE LIFE OF FAITH THAT TRUSTS GOD IMPLICITLY TO PROVIDE FOR US AND TO RETURN TO US ALL THAT WE NEED. NOT WHAT WE WANT, MIND YOU, BUT ALL THAT WE NEED, BECAUSE OUR GOD KNOWS FAR BETTER THAN WE THAT WHAT WE WANT IS NOT NECESSARILY THAT WHICH WE NEED. WHEN WE LIVE THE LIFE TO WHICH JESUS CALLS US, THE LIFE OF CONPLETE TRUST IN GOD, THEN HE WILL PROVIDE THE BREAD FOR THE DAY THAT WE NEED. NOT TOO MANY YEARS AFTER MY VISIT TO SAINT ROCCO’S, I FOLLOWED THE CALL OF MY LORD AND GOD INTO THE ORDAINED MINISTRY. AT THE TIME, I HAD A VERY PROMISSING CAREER, GOOD PAY, WITH A SECURE RETIREMENT PLAN. I HAD, TO FOLLOW THAT CALL, OFFER EVERYTHING UP TO GOD, WITH NO PROMISES AND NO CERTAINTIES OTHER THAN MY FAITH THAT THE LORD WOULD PROVIDE FOR MY NEEDS AND THE NEEDS OF MY FAMILY. OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL AND TRUE, AND THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS IN SEMINARY GOD PROVIDED FOR MY NEEDS, AND MY INCOME, FROM ALL SORTS OF STRANGE SOURCES, WAS EXACTLY THAT FROM BFORE. I WANTED FOR NOTHING I NEEDED. THE BREAD FOR THE DAY CAME FAITHFULLY FROM THE HAND OF GOD; AS IT DOES STILL TODAY. TRUST IN GOD AND IN HIS ONLY SON WHO OFFERED HIMSELF UP AS THE SACRIFICE TO GOD THE FATHER ON OUR BEHALF. HE IS OUR LORD AND MASTER, AND THE MODEL FOR OUR LIVES. THE LIFE TO WHICH HE CALLS US IS A LIFE OF FREEDOM FROM THE CARES AND CONCERNS OF THE WORLD; A LIFE IN WHICH WE ARE FREE TO LIVE AS THE CHILDREN OF GOD, TRUSTING EVER IN HIS MERCY AND LOVE. TRUST IN GOD, AND GIVE HIM YOUR TIME, YOUR POSSESSIONS, AND YOUR LOVE, FOR ALL THAT YOU ARE AND ALL THAT YOU HAVE COMES FROM HIS LOVING HANDS. LIKE THE POOR WIDOW, LIVE IN FAITH, AND GOD WILL PROVIDE.
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