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32^nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

“The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.” (I Kings 17:15-16)

“…’Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’” (Mark 12:38-39)

Central to this Sunday is Jesus’ commentary to His disciples about the widow’s mite. Most preachers use this Sunday to encourage those who consider themselves among the less fortunate to do what they can. That little is truly precious in God’s eyes.

More industrious pastors will sometimes use this Sunday to urge all their parishioners, especially their well-to-do parishioners, to be heroic in their generosity in proportion to the heroic generosity of the widow Elijah encountered in Sidon or the poor widow of the Gospel.

However, there are a couple verses at the beginning of the Gospel for this Sunday, which should cause one to question, as they seem to touch an entirely different topic. I can’t say as I have ever heard a homily on these readings which was centered on those opening verses condemning the exploitation of poor women by the scribes or applying the condemnation or admonition of Jesus to priests and bishops today.

“…’Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted obsequiously in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who swallow the property of widows, while making a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.’” (Mark 12:38-39)

Truth to be told, on an ordinary Sunday such an application really wouldn’t even make a lot of sense, given the fact that the pews are generally filled with the laity. The example of the widow would be an encouragement to them and the admonition to the scribes would be out of place.

The place for citing those first verses and challenging priests would probably be a priests’ retreat. Excuse my inexperience, however, but I cannot remember myself being exhorted at a priests’ retreat to take to heart those first couple verses. Nor do I remember being admonished like this in the seminary. It is almost as if when the last scribe was buried that was the end of possible applications for the first two verses of today’s Gospel. And yet… they are there, they haven’t been edited out. And we say, praise God!

From the scene of the Transfiguration we know that Elijah is Old Testament prophecy personified. The Scriptures are rich in details about this marvelous man. Different from someone like Samson, however, Elijah is sublime even in his frailty. He is the vessel of prophecy, God’s chosen witness, whose face and manner do not detract in the least from his mission. His withdrawal to Sidon, where he brings comfort to a widow and her son while awaiting God’s reprieve for His chosen people and the return of rain to the earth, is as particular as God’s love is and therefore more than revelatory of the nature of God’s love. He most surely brought this widow more than meal and oil in God’s name; he brought her comfort and assurance of God’s kingship in a world which had only taken from her of late.

Elijah foreshadows Christ in numerous ways. His own unmistakable witness to God prepared God’s chosen people to receive the message of God’s love for His people in the glory of the Incarnation and in everything Jesus said and did as He walked among His people.

In this Year of the Priest, we have the benefit not only of the witness of Christ but also that of Elijah in Sidon. We have a double assurance of God’s particular love, inviting our generous response and entrance into that communion which restores lost innocence and opens for us the way to Heaven and perfect joy beyond this veil of tears. The priest, alter Christus, is to reflect Christ by all he says and does. His ability to be Elijah/Christ for the little ones makes or breaks the message.

Best of times/worst of times scenario: I am afraid too many folks today have had the famous vision of St. Hildegard of Bingen, who saw the high priest standing before her in ragged and dirty vestments. Unlike Hildegard, however, today many turn their back on him and walk away. This thought comes to me in the light of a news item I read the other day about an Italian priest, exasperated by the non-attendance at Mass in his parish, who sent out invitations to his own funeral because he said he wanted to see his people one more time before he died. It’s sort of like something St. Francis of Assisi might have done to touch hearts grown cold.

Maybe the reason I haven’t ever heard a preacher admonish using these words from Mark’s Gospel is that scribal hypocrisy, with the proverbial long robes, tassels and long prayers, has not recently been the order of the day. Most priests have had a regular paycheck for over a generation and are more apt to make their appearances clad like somebody’s husband off of page 2 of the L.L. Bean or Eddie Bauer Catalogues. It’s not easy with a diocesan decreed scale of benefits to accuse a man of preying on widows. The modern day scribe’s “sin” no doubt is rather his gentrification. Long robes and obsequious greetings may no longer be in, but a certain institutionalization of shepherding at the cost of the sheep is still the bottom line (read: don’t disturb outside of office hours). We priests too, like the scribe at the top of the social heap, are oblivious to the glory on the face of Christ which should shine through our human weakness. “Zeal for Your House consumes me, O Lord” is not exactly a common watchword among men of the cloth.

Having an eye for the defenseless poor is not as simple as taking your turn at the soup kitchen or endowing a homeless shelter. There are many who have been exhorted to do their part this Sunday, not only for the parish but as men and women in the world for those in need. The least among us with what little they have can always find ways of helping the lesser. The priest/scribe’s calling is somewhat different. It is to pick up and move at the Lord’s behest like Elijah. It is to be Christ’s presence in our world today and to speak that freeing word, which reassures and empowers others.

Why is Mass attendance down of a Sunday? It may be simply that the social pressure of the “good old days” is no longer there. Some would say they no longer find Jesus in church any more. The crowds which came streaming to Christ from Judea, Samaria and Galilee came with various motives and not all of them pure. Lots however hung on His words and sought His face. Elijah, the vessel of prophecy, might just be the coach we need if we’re puzzling over what is lacking in our ministry for the sake of the Gospel as other Christs for our day and time.

Best of times/worst of times scenario? Elijah has been there and so has Jesus. Both withdrew to Sidon and both rewarded the faith and hope they encountered in the poor widow and in the Siro-Phoenician woman. Christ needs our hands to do His work most certainly, but at least for us priest/scribes radiating His glory in His particular love and attention for each and every one, empowering the other is no doubt closer to the mark. The institutional measures certainly have their importance, but herding is not God’s way. Church history has been punctuated with “mega moments”. Slavic renditions on gigantic canvases somewhere in a St. Petersburg museum depicting the baptism of the Rus come to mind. God’s way? On occasion perhaps, but not in the every day! Remember, we owe the account of his discernment of the true theophany on Mount Sinai to the prophet Elijah as well: not in the storm, not in the fire or the earthquake, but God’s presence in the tiny whispering sound, as particular as is God’s love for each of us His children.

“The woman went and did as Elijah told her and they ate the food, she, himself and her son. The jar of meal was not spent nor the jug of oil emptied, just as the Lord had foretold through Elijah.” (I Kings 17:15-16)

Mary said, “Do whatever he tells you”.