Friends, our first reading is that wonderful story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath, which is a kind of hidden gem in the Old Testament. Like so many of the stories in the Bible, it is very understated, but chock full of spiritual meaning. And it has to do with how we respond—and the strange and surprising ways God might respond to us— when things are toughest.
Watch Trusting God in Dire Straits - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon here
GOSPEL
Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Mark 12:38-44 (or 12:41-44)
Friends, today we read about the poor widow who gave her all to the Lord. Her simple generosity, her offering of her whole livelihood, was a response to God’s unconditional love. God’s love comes first. When we get this wrong, everything else in the spiritual life is thrown off-kilter. Listen to how St. John expresses this love of predilection: “In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the expiation for our sins.”
If we play the game of loving God in order to get God to love us, then we are lost. If we think that we can earn salvation or we can work our way into God’s heart, then we are lost. Here’s a way to think about it: we wouldn’t exist were it not for God’s love. God needs nothing; therefore, whatever exists outside of God exists because God desires some good for it. Love precedes, therefore, our intelligence, our courage, our wills, our designs and purposes, indeed, our very existence.