Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Giving Out Of One’s Poverty
Liturgical Cycle: A | Lectionary Cycle: II
Introduction
Paul, or the author using Paul’s name, beseeches Timothy to keep preaching the word of God, in season and out of season, to be a good minister of the Lord and to give himself, as Paul had done.
Jesus, who lived in the hands of the Father, points out to his disciples how much a poor widow was living in the hands of God, so much so that she put in the treasury for the worship in the temple coins she even needed for her own living. What a trust and a generosity!
Opening Prayer
God with the heart of a father and a mother,
You care for the poor,
Give justice to the oppressed
and food for the hungry.
In your Son Jesus, you have shown us
not to give only from our surplus but ourselves.
Confound our calculations
and change our self-interest
into generous sharing,
that our way of giving may be like yours,
not counting the cost.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
First Reading
In the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and with the hope I have in his coming and his kingdom, I urge you
to preach the word in season and out of season, reproof, rebuke, or exhort, with patience and instruction.
For the time will come when people will no longer tolerate sound doctrine but, following their passions, will gather teachers to suit their itching ears.
And they will abandon the truth and turn to myths.
As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, devote yourself fully to your ministry as an evangelist.
Final Recommendations and Greetings
As for me, I am already poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Now, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day— and not only me but also all who have eagerly anticipated his appearance.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 71:8-9, 14-15AB, 16-17, 22
R. (see 15ab) I will sing of your salvation.
My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
with your glory day by day.
Cast me not off in my old age;
as my strength fails, forsake me not.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
But I will always hope
and praise you ever more and more.
My mouth shall declare your justice,
day by day your salvation.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
I will treat of the mighty works of the Lord;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
O God, you have taught me from my youth,
and till the present I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
R. I will sing of your salvation.
So will I give you thanks with music on the lyre,
for your faithfulness, O my God!
I will sing your praises with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel!
R. I will sing of your salvation.
Alleluia Verse
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Invective Against the Scribes 38 As he was teaching, he also told them: “Beware of those teachers of the law who enjoy walking around in long robes and being greeted in the marketplace;
and who like to occupy reserved seats in the synagogues; and the first places at feasts.
They even devour the widow’s and the orphan’s goods while making a show of long prayers. How severe a sentence they will receive!”
The Widow’s Offering 41 Jesus sat down across from the temple treasury and watched as people dropped their money into the collection box. Many rich individuals contributed large offerings.
But a poor widow also approached and placed in two small coins.
Then Jesus called his disciples over and said to them: “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has given more than all the others who contributed.
For they all gave from their abundance; but she, out of her poverty, gave everything she had—her very livelihood.”
Prayers of the Faithful
– Lord, we pray you for your Church. Preserve it from the temptation of riches and power, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for widows and orphans. Keep them from despair and make us attentive to their need of compassion and loving help, we pray:
– Lord, we pray for this community. Make us generous enough to share not only from our abundance, but also at times from our poverty, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Loving, generous God,
in these signs of bread and wine
We celebrate how Jesus, your Son,
gave himself once and for all
that we might live and love and be free.
May we learn from him
to ask not how much we can afford
without hurting ourselves
but to let him be our strength
to give the best of ourselves
and to answer his voice
crying out in everyone in need.
We ask this through Christi our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Generous and loving God,
Your son came to fill with your gifts
The poor, aware of their emptiness
And he called them blessed.
Help us to discover how poor we really are –
poor in faith, in trust, in generous love.
Be near to us in your Son,
that we may become available to all
and share the best that is in us
without any outward display
but in quiet deeds of love and service,
as Jesus did, your Son,
who lives with you and with us forever.
Blessing
Jesus gave all that he had and was – his whole self, to bring others life and happiness. Like him, let us not count the cost of our gifts. My almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
REFLECTIONS
Check this out for Commentary by Fr Armellini
Mark 12:38-44
Happiness is not in receiving but in giving
Is it possible to give away everything we have? I am afraid to talk about it because I am unsure how much I can give up! The widow in the Gospel today “has given everything she had to live on,” Jesus tells us. It takes much courage and requires total trust in divine providence.
But people of this kind are not uncommon, though! Stories of saints of the past can be found all around us – telling of their heroic acts of charity. You do not have to look that far into the history books. We see our city’s generous acts of charity that keep hundreds of homeless and poor warm and fed. The Covid-19 Pandemic has taught us life lessons: to care for our neighbours, to give without measure, and to love without conditions.
Furthermore, Jesus reminds us that these acts of charity should be done in silence. Without fuss, without posting it on social media and without your left hand knowing what the right hand is doing. Charity is not a photo opportunity - this is an essential principle for the current generation to learn because God already knows what we do and don’t do.
Happiness is not in receiving but in giving, perhaps not so easy to accept. There is a famous poem titled The Little Grain of Gold by Rabindranath Tagore. The poem is about a beggar who once happens to meet the king. Here is the poem.
I was asking, from door to door, on the road to the village, when your golden chariot appeared in the distance, like a magnificent dream. And I wondered, wondering, who was that King of kings! My hopes soared to heaven, and I thought my bad days were over. And I was waiting for spontaneous alms, treasures spilled by the dust. The coach stop by my side. You looked at me and came down smiling. I felt that the happiness of life had come to an end. And suddenly you extended your right hand to me saying: “Can you give me something?” Ah, what a funny thing about your royalty! Ask a beggar! And I was confused and didn’t know what to do. Then I slowly took a grain of wheat out of my bag and gave it to you. But what a surprise was mine when I emptied my sack on the ground in the afternoon, I found a grain of gold in the misery of the heap.
Jesus gave all that he had and all that he was – his whole self, to bring others life and happiness. Like him, let us not count the cost of our gifts.
======