1Kg. 17:10-16; Ps. 146:7-10; Heb. 9:24-28; Mk. 12:38-44
“Do not be afraid” of the sacrifice we may be called to make for the Lord. If we belong to the Lord then all we are and all we have is of the Lord. Do not be afraid if we are called to offer our “whole livelihood” for the Lord. This is the testimony of Elijah who calls the widow to trust in the Lord and “make a little cake” for him so that in the end “the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry”. This is also the testimony of Jesus who recognizes the poor widow who from her poverty “has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood”. Do not be afraid to leave it all on the field of love for love is what endures and returns multiplied to fill the need.
“The Lord loves the just.” Is it justice when Elijah asks the widow to give the last bit of food and take care of him first before taking care of her hunger and her child? The world would cry out the injustice of the request of Elijah a stranger to this woman. Elijah however was prepared to offer the widow the promise of the Lord and “gives food to the hungry” not just for that day but “until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth”. Lord let your justice rain down from heaven to feed the souls who hunger for your righteousness and let us respond with love to the needs of the poor.
Is it justice that a poor widow gives “from her poverty…all she had, her whole livelihood” to the scribes who “devour the houses of widows” while they sit in “seats of honor in synagogues”? Clearly Jesus is pointing out the injustice of the scribes who receive from the poor to live their riches and “recite lengthy prayers” but offer nothing in return to feed those who are hungry. “They will receive a severe condemnation” from the Lord of justice. Do not be afraid to stand for justice.
The Lord of justice enters the sanctuary of the Mass as our high priest who offered his blood once “to take away sin by his sacrifice…Not that he might offer himself repeatedly…but now once for all.” There is a misconception among some non-Catholics that the Mass is a repeated sacrifice of Jesus on the altar. This is wrong at two levels, first it is Jesus who offered himself as our high priest, we cannot make another sacrifice of him. Second, the Mass is a commemoration of the one sacrifice that remains with us for our sins.
Why does God allow some of his servants to receive the stigmata, the wounds of Christ? If he is the one who was crucified and died once for our sins what is the meaning of the stigmata in the lives of the saints? Is it not a reminder of the same suffering of Christ that remains with us for our sins that we continue to commit? The justice of the Lord suffers today for our sins until the day of his return. Do not be afraid of the sacrifice for justice we may be asked to make for the Lord.
The sacrifice of the Mass is the sacrifice “offered once to take away the sins of many” but not all. The God of mercy will “bring salvation to those who eagerly await him”. Like the scribes there are many who “will receive a very severe condemnation.” For those who believe there is no hell hear these words from the Lord while there is still time for conversion for “human beings die once and after this the judgement”. Mercy comes to those who seek and justice to those who find. Justice is what purgatory is all about to be purified in the fire of justice with the promise of eternal glory. “Condemnation” is what hell is all about for those whose sins remain not by God’s choice but by our own.
We live in a world that is ready to offer “blood that is not his own” in the sacrifice of abortion for the choice of sexual freedom, in the sacrifice of stem cells from aborted fetuses for research, in the sacrifice of education of children for social reform, in the sacrifice of the poor for economic prosperity, in the sacrifice of the sick for the right to die by choice, in the sacrifice always of the “other” for the good of the self. This is the right to choose our own condemnation when we follow the teachings of the world because the good of the self always comes at the sacrifice of the “other”.
Heaven comes at the sacrifice of the self for the other. We see in the lives of the saints, the martyrs, the souls who quietly give of themselves for us, our parents and grandparents. We see it in the stories of those who risk their lives every day to protect our peace, to rescue the stranger from a fire, to tend to the sick in hospitals, nursing homes, and during those final days with palliative care. We see it in Jesus who appeared “to take away our sin by his sacrifice…at the end of the ages”. This is love, Godly love. Do not be afraid of being called to offer ourselves for Godly love. It is the path of justice to heaven.
It would be a misconception to think that only priests are called to give up their “whole livelihood” for the Lord and follow him. It is true that the consecration of the priesthood to the church is a call to abandonment of self for the other. Just like God cannot save us without us neither can the priest. We each are called to make the same sacrifice in our daily lives. We can offer up all our daily struggles and sacrifices for atonement of our sin. We can offer up our work to serve a greater mission of love as we give testimony of our faith by our works. We can be generous in trusting the Lord by returning to him from the little or the greater of our abundant riches most especially the richness of our love for him. If it is worth doing it is worth doing for the Lord.
I heard a story of a poor woman who entered a butcher store and asked for a gift to eat. The butcher looked at her and said “What will you give me in return for my gift?” The woman answered, “I have no money to give you but I can go to Mass for you and offer to be there for your soul.” The butcher was not pleased since he was of little faith but he said, “Ok, go and offer yourself for me at your Mass and I will give you something.” The woman left and went to the nearby Church, attended a Mass for the butcher and came back to the store. The butcher was surprised to see her return.
She said to him, “I have attended a Mass for your soul can I receive something to eat?” The butcher thought quickly and wrote on a piece of paper “one Mass in exchange for something to eat.” He placed the paper on the scale and the paper slowly caused the scale to weight down a little. He took out a small piece of prime meat and placed it on the scale expecting the scale to tilt over. Nothing happened. Surprised he grabbed a large piece of ham and laid it on the scale. Instead of the weight of the ham causing the scale to tip over the paper caused the scale to tip more in its favor. Shocked he went to the freezer and came out with a quarter leg of beef and hung it on the scale hook. The scale then went all the way down on the side of the paper. With no words to say he gave the woman the meat and asked her to remember him in her prayers.
The value of the sacrifice of the Mass cannot be measured. It is a sacrifice of love that can transform us, save us and free the souls in purgatory. It is the gift of love we make for Christ when we come to love him in the Mass. Do not be afraid to love him by offering our whole being, all that we have and all that we are for our salvation and that of the whole world. It is the gift that keeps on giving more than we can imagine. Do not be afraid to love more.
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