Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time – 10th November 2024
The Gospel this Sunday is one of contrasts; a widow and the Scribes, the poor and the wealthy, the powerless and the powerful, humility and showing off to impress.
It is no secret that Jesus and the Scribes or the Pharisees did not get on very well with each other. They were the law makers and the religious elite of their day. They, in their self-righteousness, decided who was allowed into the local synagogue to pray. They looked down on and passed judgement on the sick and the poor. It is no wonder that they and Jesus rarely saw eye to eye. He arrived and clearly said for all to hear, ‘I have come to bring the Good News to the poor.’ What is this Good News? It is the Good News that God loves the poor, the sick, the outsider, the sinner, and the widows. In the Gospel, Jesus points to and holds up one such poor widow to show the Scribes and Pharisees how hypocritical they really are.
Right at the beginning of the gospel, Jesus, openly criticises the Scribes. He says they like to dress up and walk around so that everyone will see them. They take and claim the best seats in the synagogues and at meals. They steal the property of the poor, especially the widows and show off by saying long prayers. Then, while sitting opposite the treasury he sees these and other wealthy people putting in a great deal of money for all to see. Then, ‘a poor widow came in and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny.’ The wealthy gave from their excess; what they didn’t need nor want. The widow, in contrast gave everything she had to live on. In reality, those who had much gave very little and the widow who had very little gave all she had.