Tad Brain Power

 THE THIRTY SECOND ORDINARY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR B!

One night in a small town, a stormy rain made it impossible to a newlywed couple on a remote country road to move forward. Unable to go any farther, they got out of their car and walked towards a dimly lit farmhouse. When they reached the house, an elderly couple, carrying a kerosene lamp, met them at the door. Explaining their situation, the young man asked: “Could we spend the night with you? A place on the floor or a few easy chairs will do.”

The elderly couple saw a few grains of rice on the young lady’s hair and understood their situation. “Why surely, children,” said the elderly woman. “We just happen to have a spare bedroom. You get your things from the car while my husband and I clean it up a bit.” Then they led them up to the room. The next morning, the newlyweds got up early and prepared to leave without disturbing the elderly couple. They dressed quietly, put a ten-dollar bill on the dresser, and tiptoed down the stairs.

When they opened the door to the living room, they found the old couple asleep in chairs. They had given the newly-weds their only bedroom. The young man had his wife wait a minute while he tiptoed back upstairs and put another five dollars on the dresser. The heartwarming story is a modern illustration of the poor widow in today’s gospel. Like the poor widow, the elderly couple gave not from their surplus but from the only resource they had.

The Gospel of today seems to be very demanding, which expresses that in our poverty, emptiness and detachment from this world provide a doorway for God to bless us with true riches. In today’s readings, we are invited to reflect on our attitude towards giving. Jesus warns us to beware of and not to imitate the hypocrisy of the Scribes. He is asking us to be charitable towards the needy neighbour even when we have only bare essentials for ourselves. He loves a cheerful giver. He assures us that the measure we give will be the measure we shall receive.

Each Sunday in our worship service, during offertory time, we take offerings in baskets. Do you think Jesus is interested in how much money we put in the offering basket? No, he is not interested in how much we put in the offering baskets, but he is interested in what is in our heart that will make our offerings extraordinary. It is not what and how much we give that matters but rather how lovingly and cheerfully we give. Jesus is more interested in what is in the heart of the giver than the size of their gift.

Humans judge by the amount of money, but God judges our giving by value. The widow's mite, by human standards, meant nothing because it was just two copper coins, but for that widow, these two copper coins meant the whole world to her. The others gave money, but she gave value.

God doesn’t measure the gift by its face value, but he judges it by the sacrifice behind it. That is why Jesus put the widow’s two small copper coins higher on the scale of giving than the large contributions of the others. She gave from poverty, they gave from abundance. The poor man sacrifices more to give his little gift than the rich man does to donate his large one. Remember, we are rich only through what we give and poor only through what we keep.

In the first reading, we see the widow of Zarephath in Sidon recognized Elijah as the man of God and put his need above her need. She gave him all that she had and satisfied his hunger in her utter want. Both these widows portray an image of people who think it is finally God who is in charge of their belongings. This leads us to think of four attitudes towards giving:

*Forceful Giving* : In such case, the act of giving is not inspired from within. It is rather the effect of external force such as prestige, fame, and social pressure.

*Duty based Giving* : The people of Israel in the Old Testament, as well as the Jews in the New Testament, experienced duty based giving in the form of taxes. This attitude still exists in income tax and other official contributions. Jesus himself has clarified his position about this. “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God.” If we have a proper attitude towards such giving, we shall do it cheerfully.

*Conditional Giving* : In this case, the person gives something out of the condition of getting it back again. Hence, there is a string attached. In such a case that the joy of giving will not come to the person till the person is paid back. Peter wanted to know what they would get in return for giving up the family and property. Jesus makes it clear that if it is for the sake of the Kingdom of God and if it is accompanied with self-denial, they would get it back 100-fold of all that they have given up plus eternal life with persecution.

*Unconditional giving* : In such a case, as says, when you arrange a dinner, call those who cannot repay you. The people who do this give others little more than they expect from them. Give yourself in the giving of a thing like the widow of Zarephath and the wdow in the temple who gave themselves and have immovable place in the Bible. This is the reward of total self-giving.

My dear people, nature shows us the way. A well that is unused becomes stagnant. A well from which water is often drawn remains fresh. As we celebrate the total self-giving of Jesus in this Eucharistic celebration, Let us build up a proper attitude of giving and ask God’s choicest blessings and pray to make us more generous like the widow of Zarephath and widow in the temple who gave themselves unconditionally and found a place in the Bible and in the heart of Jesus. Amen.

All reactions:

2Maria Stanislaus and Lini Kuruvilla