Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Generosity Of The Poor
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Year II. Those who have not given in to the attraction and even persecution by paganism and the power of the world (Roman Empire) are the remnant of Christ marked with the sign of Christ and of the Father. They have been loyal to him, as they have preferred the poverty of Christ above power, prestige and personal safety. They did not belie their integrity as Christians. Our reading presents them to us as praising God in a heavenly liturgy.
Gospel. The widow goes beyond the law. In her generosity she does not only give all she has, she has only what she has given. People who are poor often know well how to give because they know what it means to be poor and dependent; they know how to live in the hands of God.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, generous Father,
simple people put us often to shame
by their total generosity
and straightforward loyalty.
Make us realize, Lord,
that, like your Son, the real poor of heart
often make us understand who you are:
a God who gives himself.
Grant us too this kind
of generous love and loyalty
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
First Reading
Those Who Are Saved
I received another vision: The Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, surrounded by one hundred and forty-four thousand people, who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
A sound echoed in heaven like the roar of waves or loud thunder; it was like a chorus of singers with their harps.
They sing a new song before the throne, in the presence of the four living creatures and the elders—a song that no one can learn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who have been taken from the earth.
They are those who were not defiled with women but were chaste; these are the ones given to follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They are the first taken from humankind who are already of God and the Lamb.
No deceit has been found on their lips; they are faultless.
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;
the world and those who dwell in it.
For he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Stay awake!
For you do not know when the Son of Man will come.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus looked up and saw wealthy people depositing their gifts into the temple’s treasury.
He also saw a poor widow, who dropped in two small coins.
And he said:
“Truly, I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them.
For all of them gave an offering from their abundance; but she, out of her poverty, gave all she had to live on.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– Lord, we pray you for widows and orphans. Keep them from despair and make us attentive to their need of love and compassion, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for all the poor who are insecure about the next day. May we bring them security and love, we pray:
– Lord, we pray for this community. Make us learn from the poor to be generous enough to share not only from our abundance but also, when needed, from our own poverty, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, if you want someone
to suffer or die for sin
that we may live,
you take your own Son and he agrees loyally.
God, who give yourself,
accept these gifts, poor as they are,
because in them we place our own generosity
in the hope that you will make it grow
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, generous Father,
in your Son Jesus Christ you come to us
not the way a rich person would visit
an underdeveloped humanity
but the way a poor one shares
with those who are also poor like him or her.
Accept our thanks for giving yourself
and revealing in Jesus
all the abundance of your love
with an infinite respect for our human poverty.
Accept our thanks through Christ our Lord.
Blessing
Christ gave his own self to bring others reconciliation and happiness. Christians should learn from him to give themselves without counting the cost, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Charity begins at home.
Luke 21:1-4
The beautiful explanation by Fr. Armellini's vivid description of the poor widow's offering allows us to reflect upon the temple's corrupt practices and traditions, which forced people such as this poor widow to make offerings. Jesus condemned the attitude of priests and religious scholars who devoured even the poor and widows to enrich their own pockets.
Widows, orphans, migrants, and foreigners were the poorest people in Israel. The widow in the Gospel had offered her whole livelihood because she trusted the Lord. She gives everything because the Lord is greater than all else for her. The message of this Gospel passage is an invitation to generosity: generosity towards the poor, the needy, and the abandoned and despised.
Therefore, when the Church exhorts the faithful to be generous, it should take care to be generous herself toward the needy. Often our Church institutions behave like the religious scholars and priests of the time of Jesus. Often, we hear of parishes and priests who charge for funerals, weddings, baptisms, and even the Mass, resulting in many people avoiding the sacraments and the Church. In order for the Church to truly represent the presence of God among the people, it needs to address not only their spiritual needs, but also their physical needs.
“Charity begins at home,” says the proverb. Caring for the elderly and the sick in our homes should not be overlooked when reaching out to help a needy neighbour or contributing large sums to the church. In our society, how often do we encounter elderly or infirm parents living in misery while their children are recognized for their charitable work in the community and the church?
Generosity belongs to everyday life. Could I be more conscious of the question, "How can I be more generous towards the poor? How can I be more helpful?” It is normal to think that “I am not super rich to be very generous with the needs of people around me!” Pope Francis has a suggestion for us: “look through your room or your wardrobe. How many pairs of shoes do I have? One, two, three, four, fifteen, twenty…. Maybe too many… But if you have many pairs of shoes, give away half. How many clothes do I not use or use only once a year? This is one way to be generous, to share what we have.