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32nd

SUNDAY

(B)

“FIRST IMPRESSIONS”
32nd SUNDAY (B)
November 10, 2024

1 Kings: 17:10-16; Psalm 146;
Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44
by Jude Siciliano, OP

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Dear Preachers:

 


PRE-NOTE: As the number of executions increases in our country please pray for an end to the death penalty. Also, please consider dropping a card to one of the inmates we list each week at the end of these reflections. In your message you might assure them of your prayers.



There was a drought in Israel. (Perhaps not unlike the current drought in Africa.) All people suffered its consequences, not only the Jews, but their pagan neighbors as well. God sent Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, a Gentile. That is a consistent theme in the Hebrew Scriptures: God’s concern for the powerless. The widow and her child would be the most vulnerable; she has no husband to help and protect her and her son. God does what God always does: sees those most in need and responds.

Initially, Elijah does not make a good first impression on the needy widow. She was gathering wood for a fire to cook her last meal for herself and her son. Elijah did not immediately help her. In fact, he added to the burden she was already bearing by asking for water, in a time of drought and for bread from her diminished supplies! He seems demanding. But Elijah is inviting her to faith: if she makes him the bread he asked for, God will miraculously provide for her and her son throughout the famine. The widow does not have much, but if she gives up what little she has, God will provide for her. She has no visible proof this is so, but she puts faith in Elijah’s assurance of God’s care for her.

We may not have much to offer in service to God. But are we willing to give what little we have to experience God working with us, through our resources, as little as they may be? Can we think of a time when we did just as the widow did, gave not from our surplus, but from what was essential for us. In doing so we might have even ignored our own needs.

Did we give generously, not only from our money, but from our gifts of time and talent, because we saw a greater need. For example: in our marriage, a friendship, our local community, our church family? It is hard to give with the kind of generosity we see in the widow in the Temple whom Jesus says gave, “… all she had, her whole livelihood.” It is very hard to give with the generosity the widow showed. Her generosity is striking. I tend to want to hold back something, “just in case.” On the other hand. the widow gave the very last of what they had.

In the gospel scene Jesus is watching people come and go. He is at the women’s court where there were 13 trumpet-shaped containers into which people dropped their offerings. Imagine the sound the widow’s two small coins made. While the clanging of the wealthy’s money would certainly have drawn attention. The sound difference would have been a marker that the widow’s offering was puny. Don’t you think that she felt self-conscious and humbled before others?

Jesus has been in controversies with the religious elite, who held power among the people. He rebukes them for building their power and wealth, even the Temple itself, on the backs of the poor. “They devour the houses of widows….” The widow’s gift will go for the upkeep of the Temple. Ironically, at the time of the gospel of Mark, the temple had been, or was about to be, destroyed.

Jesus took his disciples aside criticizing the source of the offerings. The rich contributed from their surplus, while the widow gave from all she had, “...her whole livelihood.” The woman’s giving was heroic. It also reflected Christ’s heroic gift of himself for our sins. She was not looking for a reward. She just placed all she had into God’s hands. It is clear from Jesus’ words the God noticed. Soon Jesus will make his total offering to God as well, and God will notice. Jesus is like the widow in the gospel, giving all in faith to God.

Jesus praised the widow who, in her community, would have been insignificant. But her small gift is recognized by Jesus and, in effect, is blessed. We are about to bring our own gifts to the altar – bread, wine and the fruits of the collection from the community. They are gifts in themselves, but they also represent the gift of ourselves. Along with the bread and wine, we place ourselves on the altar and pray that the Spirit, who changes them into the body and blood of Christ, will also receive and change our lives into Christ’s presence in the world. Like Christ, through the Spirit, we make a generous gift of ourselves in service to others in Christ’s name.

The Pharisees sought the esteem of others by wearing in public the same garments they wore in the synagogues. They wanted people to admire them as prayerful and hoped to be treated special. This show of piety would earn them front seats in the synagogues. It would also draw attention to themselves at banquets and where they would receive seats of honor. They may have been vain, but that was not immoral in Jesus’ eyes? No, what Jesus condemns is that they swindled money from widows. (Today’s scam artists do that through phone calls and the Internet.) To make matters worse they took possession of widow’s property in the name of religion.

We began November with the celebration of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls. They remind us that, at some date, near or far off in the future, we will be asked not to hold anything back, but to give at the moment of our death all we have to the Lord. These are joyful and sobering feasts that remind us to celebrate the goodness of our lives and to offer our lives back to God who gave them to us. In the light of these festivals we do our best to hold nothing back in our service to God. In order to make a total gift of ourselves to God at our ending, we practice now growing in generosity in how we love God and serve one another.

So now, what is holding us back and what shall we let go of? We are grateful for the Word of God and the Eucharist we are celebrating, for they can do for us what we cannot do on our own: transform us into self giving vessels, overflowing with God’s grace and love for all people.

 

Click here for a link to this Sunday’s readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111024.cfm

 

ONE GOOD BOOK FOR THE PREACHER

 


PREACHING IN THE LIGHT OF THE WORD: ENLIVENING THE SCRIPTURAL IMAGINATION ed. Michael E. Connors, SCS (Liturgy Training Publications, 2024)


 

Essays by scholars and experienced preachers from a variety of perspectives. The fruits from a major conference at Notre Dame University. The presenters on the ways the biblical text informs and guides preaching. An excellent summary of issues that challenge the contemporary preacher.

 

JUSTICE BULLETIN BOARD

 

The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry.
Psalm 146: 7

 

November--the month of giving thanks for the harvest. Yet, the harvest of food remains out of reach for many in our abundant land and throughout the world. One of the documents from Vatican Council II states, “The council asks individuals and governments to remember the saying of the Fathers: “Feed the people dying of hunger, because if you do not feed them you are killing them,” and urges all, according to their ability, to share and dispose of their goods to help others, above all by giving them aid which will enable them to help and develop themselves” (Gaudium et Spes , 69). This document was written almost sixty years ago and is even more relevant today as we see in the 2009 writing of Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI: “‘Feed the hungry’ (cf. MT 25: 35, 37, 42) is an ethical imperative for the universal Church as she responds to the teachings of her Founder, the Lord Jesus, concerning solidarity and the sharing of goods. Moreover, the elimination of world hunger has also, in the global era, become a requirement for safeguarding the peace and stability of the planet” (Caritas in Veritate , 27). You see, it is not weapons that will give security to the planet but food and the ability for self-development.

 

1. What can parishioners do? The tool is a three-pronged fork: 1. Help prepare and serve food for one of our ministries--Helen Wright Women’s Shelter dinners, Oak City suppers, or Women’s Center lunches.

 

2. Contribute funds for the purchase of food for our Catholic Parish Outreach food pantry. You can also purchase Fair Trade products at area groceries to help third world farmers.

3. Join in advocating to end hunger and work to create a more just world. This is probably the area where we can have the most impact and what we often do the least. One of the best advocacy groups is Bread for the World as it brings people from many faith traditions to be a collective Christian voice in urging our nation’s decision makers to change the policies and conditions that allow hunger to persist.

This month, every time you pray the “Our Father” contemplate that we pray for ‘our daily bread.’ Then, take action, as “a way has to be found to enable everyone to benefit from the fruits of the earth” (Pope Francis 6/20/13).

 

Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director
Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh, NC

 

FAITH BOOK

 


Mini-reflections on the Sunday scripture readings designed for persons on the run. “Faith Book” is also brief enough to be posted in the Sunday parish bulletins people take home.


From today’s I Kings’ reading:

 

Elijah said to the widow,
“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.”

 

Reflection:

 

“Drought” in the Bible is a reminder that calls our attention to those in dire circumstances, in need of: the basics of food and shelter; a voice of encouragement; a welcome into places that have barred or ignored them; an appreciation of their gifts; a recognition of their dignity as God’s children, etc.

So we ask ourselves:

Who are the contemporary “widows and orphans.”

Shall we help them by contributing to today’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development?

 

POSTCARDS TO DEATH ROW INMATES

 

“One has to strongly affirm that condemnation to the death penalty is an inhuman measure that humiliates personal dignity, in whatever form it is carried out." ---Pope Francis

 

Inmates on death row are the most forgotten people in the prison system. Each week I am posting in this space several inmates’ names and locations. I invite you to write a postcard to one or more of them to let them know that: we have not forgotten them; are praying for them and their families; or, whatever personal encouragement you might like to give them. If the inmate responds, you might consider becoming pen pals.

 

Please write to:

  • Johnny Parker #0311936 (On death row since 3/24/1997)

  • Leroy Mann #0255136 (7/15/1997)

  • Christopher Roseboro #0352024

----Central Prison P.O. 247 Phoenix, MD 21131

 

Please note: Central Prison is in Raleigh, NC., but for security purposes, mail to inmates is processed through a clearing house at the above address in Maryland.

 

For more information on the Catholic position on the death penalty go to the Catholic Mobilizing Network: http://catholicsmobilizing.org/resources/cacp/

 

On this page you can sign “The National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty.” Also, check the interfaith page for People of Faith Against the Death Penalty: http://www.pfadp.org/

 

DONATIONS

 

“First Impressions” is a service to preachers and those wishing to prepare for Sunday worship. It is sponsored by the Dominican Friars. If you would like “First Impressions” sent weekly to a friend, send a note to Fr. John Boll, OP at jboll@opsouth.org.

 

If you would like to support this ministry, please send tax deductible contributions to fr. Jude Siciliano, O.P.:

 

St. Albert Priory, 3150 Vince Hagan Drive, Irving, Texas 75062-4736

 

Make checks payable to: Dominican Friars.

 

Or, go to our webpage to make an online donation: https://www.PreacherExchange.com/donations.htm

 

RESOURCES

 

ORDERING OUR CDs:

 

We have compiled Four CDs for sale:

  • Individual CDs for each Liturgical Year, A, B or C.

  • One combined CD for “Liturgical Years A, B and C.

If you are a preacher, lead a Lectionary-based scripture group, or are a member of a liturgical team, these CDs will be helpful in your preparation process. Individual worshipers report they also use these reflections as they prepare for Sunday liturgy.

 

You can order the CDs by going to our webpage:  https://www.PreacherExchange.com and clicking on the “First Impressions” CD link on the left.
 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS BY EMAIL:

 

1. "HOMILÍAS DOMINICALES" ---These Spanish reflections on the Sunday and daily scriptures are written by Dominican sisters and friars. If you or a friend would like to receive these reflections drop a note to "Fr. John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net>


2. "VOLUME 2" is an opportunity for you to hear from the readers of First Impressions. To subscribe or Send your own reflections: Send them to "Fr. John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net > Your contributions to Volume 2 are welcome.

OUR WEBSITE:  https://www.PreacherExchange.com - Where you will find Preachers Exchange, which includes "First Impressions," "Homilías Dominicales," and "Volume 2" as well as articles, book reviews, daily homilies and other material pertinent to preaching and Scripture reflection.

FOR EMAIL HELP OR TO UNSUBSCRIBE, SUBSCRIBE, OR CHANGE:
Email "Fr. John J. Boll, O.P." <preacherexchange@att.net>

 


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