1st Reading: I Kings 17: 10-16
2nd Reading: Hebrews 9: 24-28
Gospel: Mark 12:38-44
Dialogue Homily: Myrtle Hendricks Corrales
In the first reading from Kings, because of years-long drought, there is a famine in Zarephath where God has instructed Elijah to go. When Elijah instructs the widow to feed him, she explains she only has enough flour and oil to make a last serving of bread for her son and herself and that then after that meager meal, they will die. Elijah reveals that God has other plans for her; she must stop being afraid and take care of Elijah’s needs before her own. Once she does as Elijah commands, her flour and oil jars do not go empty, and God brings rain. The reading shows how responses to human needs reveal divine activity in humanity. The widow gives her all, she gives from her need.
In the gospel reading, the widow humbly drops in two very small coins. She has given everything she had to live on. Jesus points out that in religious giving, the cost of the gift to the donor is more important than its objective value. The widow gives her all, she gives from her need.
The second reading states that while the high priests offered blood of animals as sacrifice, Jesus gave his all, for he gave his blood as sacrifice. Before Vatican II, the Christology of the Church gave too much emphasis on the Christ of Faith, that is the divinity of Jesus. Not intended, but this focus on Jesus’ divinity diminished his role and message. It led some to believe that Jesus was God and could have taken himself off the cross at any time if he wished. This one-dimensional divine Jesus put him out of our reach; it distracted from Jesus’ commitment to his mission and to his suffering of a terrible death. How can only a divine Jesus be a role model for us to be like? Christology then turned to the humanity of Jesus – he was fully human like us and as the risen Christ he was fully divine. Theologians use the terms Jesus of history for his humanity and the Christ of Faith for his divinity. It is the Jesus of history, the humanity of Jesus that liberates us to emulate him, to walk the path of Jesus. It is his humanity that compels us to be like Jesus, to give our all to work for justice, to aid the poor and disenfranchised.
Last Sunday, the planners asked the community to share how to love self and how to love neighbor. This Sunday, we planners ask the community to share how to not think less of ourselves but to think of ourselves less.
The question for ourselves and the community is what does it mean to give of our all, to give from our need? That is, to not just give from our surplus, but in our lives and in what we have observed in others, what does it mean to give from what we think is our need in terms of our finances, our time and energy, our willingness to speak or stand up to an injustice. Can we trust, as the women in the readings, that all will be fine if we extend ourselves and give from our need?
A look at history demonstrates numerous individuals who have given their all, perhaps not in terms of finances but in terms of themselves. The fight for women’s suffrage was long and difficult. Women toiled and demonstrated for years. Some of the worse violence women faced was a 1917 march in Washington, DC, when they were pushed and hit by men while police either just watched or participated in this violence. Some of the women were arrested and taken to the Lorton Women’s Workhouse. A few women, in response to the poor conditions, rough treatment, and two weeks on bread and water, went on a hunger strike. These women were force fed by a rubber tube up their nostrils and liquid pumped into their stomach. Other suffragists were brutally treated, leaving some women beaten and unconscious. Yet, the barbaric and dehumanizing treatment endured by these women did not deter them from their goal. They continued to give their all until women gain the right to vote.
It was the same situation for the women textile workers in 1912 as they held strikes and marches. These women endured arrests and beatings; yet they took their broken bodies back again and again to the demonstrations and strikes until working conditions improved. Surely, they gave their all.
Then there is our own Lillian Bisson. A woman from Brazil came to Northern Virginia and found work cleaning houses. For about a year she came to Lil ‘s once or twice a week to take her shopping or to do other errands. This woman was recovering from breast cancer and faced huge medical bills. She told Lil she had asked several of her employers to be her sponsor for US citizenship. Some agreed until they learned that the sponsorship included the sponsor agreeing to pay any debts that she might be unable to pay. Well, Lil agreed to be her sponsor. When Lil told me about this, I asked if she felt vulnerable knowing that she could be financially responsible for this woman. Lil looked at me and responded: “Yes, but….” This woman is now a US citizen. Lil gave out of her need in terms of taking a risk for this woman.
So, the question for us today as we reflect on the readings and the work and mission of Jesus is what does it mean in our own lives or what we have observed in others to give from what we think is our need in terms of our finances, our time and energy, our speaking or standing up to an injustice.
Community Dialogue: Reprinted with permission
(Marian) As a mass planner, I’ve had some time to think about this: giving from one’s need vs one’s surplus… I think our needs are many, especially for: Financial security; Physical comfort; Personal convenience; Satisfying relationships. For me, “giving from one’s need” requires a willing- ness to be uncomfortable and inconvenienced, for example, to: Use less and share more; Understand privilege and work to secure the same opportunities for others; Restore right relationships; Channel time, talent, and – yes – money to support hope, truth and justice. It’s about how we spend our lives. It requires humility acknowledging every day is a challenge, but also an opportunity to be light for the world. One of my favorite quotes – with its beautiful mathematical implications – is by Albert Einstein: “Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; (While) everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted.” May we know the difference and spend our lives accordingly.
(Nellie) Some of the things we do in our daily lives are already very giving from our need. When we give because we love someone, rather than because we tell ourselves “I have to give,” it is easier. Love is what let Lillian make a leap of faith when sponsoring the Brazilian woman for U.S. citizenship. As people of faith, we already have a countercultural worldview of seeing everyone as connected and God in control. We can continue to build on that versus having to do something that feels like a complete break with what we do and who we are already.
(Rosa) I have known so many people in need and it is impossible to help everyone. I have seen how Arlington Free Clinic helps people without health insurance. On a personal note, there is a man who walks in front of my house on his way to work. He has long hair and looks homeless, but he is not. He rents a room nearby and works in construction. He has no family here in the U.S. I was talking with him one day and he thanked me for listening to him. I think we must always listen to vulnerable people, rather than ignore them.
(Leslie) It’s pretty overwhelming to be aware of all the needs of the world. I try to be alert to whatever God sends my way – to be there and available, open to whoever comes to my doorstep. And I try to take the help that comes my way: from a homeless man who gave me change to buy coffee when I didn’t have enough; from the man who stopped to change my tire when it blew out on I-495.
(Mike) In our culture we tend to focus on money. The woman in today’s Gospel depended on God. Once, in confession, I offered up the times I’ve fallen short on the social justice demands of the Gospel. My confessor told me, “That’s not a sin you can confess.” I’m not sure that’s right. Nevertheless, walking with PAX continues to challenge me to live out the Gospel values.
(Charles) My thoughts, reflecting in part my Catholic guilt, is “whatever I’m doing, it’s not enough.” God gave us what we need to build a just world. We can only control ourselves and our actions and somehow we all need to try harder.
(Nellie) Charles, you are a saint. I have dreams of you saving the world! I used to think that I “should” be doing so much more–but we have to abandon navel gazing and the tendency to think “I’m so bad.” I’m reminded of the song “Ashes”:
We offer you our failures, we offer you attempts,
The gifts not fully given, the dreams not fully dreamt.
Give our stumblings direction; give our visions wider view,
An offering of ashes, an offering to You.
(Megan) One of my favorite quotes is, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are today.” I remember working with Journey to Adulthood (J2A) and Abbot Aiden Shea; we discussed with the teenagers what to do for a service project. His advice was to make sure it was working with people (rather than things, e.g., stream clean up). I admire Marilu MacCarthy and others who have worked with our Syrian families to become U.S. citizen.
(Nikolai) I often ask myself why John and Maria Chomeau helped me and my family. In the 1990’s we were having a rough time in Russia. I met John here in Alexandria just two months before the coup, when the USSR collapsed. We were on opposite sides. He and Maria visited us in Leningrad two times, and finally invited us to seek an opportunity in the U.S. When I came here, I didn’t have an exact idea what I wanted to do. The Chomeaus, including their daughters, have been on our side all the way through our legal journey in the U.S.
I did reimburse John for all the legal expenses related to my work visa. Still, there is no way to repay John and Maria for their attention, hospitality, and I’m not afraid to say, love. I was a stranger to them, and yet they opened their hearts and home and created a new chance for me and my family. John was one of the most important people I met in my life, and Maria has always been like a godmother to us. We never knew what to expect in our life, and sometimes God sends special people to help us on our journey.
(Nellie) John Chomeau – he made things happen. When Margaret Schwartz went to Ukraine to adopt two boys (Rupert and Nikki), John organized a work crew to get her house ready for them. The Messingers (Amanda and Mike) worked with the Cyprus Friendship Program and made it happen. It’s the story of “Stone Soup” where everyone adds something to the pot and everyone enjoys the results.
(Amanda) I don’t think the newer people in PAX know how John Chomeau and Nikolai Rudenko met. It’s an amazing story. Or how Claire Cifaloglio and Rob Abbot connected with Najla Drooby who then connected us to “our” three Syrian refugee families (now one adult in each family is a U.S. citizen). Or how Claire Cifaloglio met the Benjamin children and we started to support this refugee family from South Sudan. Or how Mike and I got involved with the Cyprus Friendship Program. Another most unlikely story. We need to record these stories and include this history on our website.
What has kept me at PAX is what everyone else is doing — how we are answering God’s call by responding to the needs we find. I remember feeling amazed hearing announcements, awed by the sheer amount of work being done—by so many people—when I first came in 1985, right out of college. This had not been my experience of church growing up. Organizing with Center for New Creation, paying the rent for Emma Shirley, collecting food for El Rescate NoVa, supporting legislation for rights of the disabled, cooking and serving a meal to those without homes at Zaccheus kitchen, protesting the war on the people of El Salvador, creating embroidered panels to wrap the Pentagon with representations of what we’d miss most in the event of nuclear disaster — were some of what I remember on any given Sunday back then. As a 22 year old, I wanted to be involved with these folk, who seemed to be living out the Gospel in their daily lives.
Meditation: an excerpt from Kahlil Gibran on Giving
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
And what is fear of need but need itself?
Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, the thirst that is unquenchable?
There are those who give little of the much which they have
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life,
and their coffer is never empty.
There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.
And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.
And there are those who give and know not pain in giving,
nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue.
Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes. God smiles upon the earth.