GENEROSITY OF THE POOR
Introduction
Those who have not given in to the attraction and even persecution by paganism and the power of the world (Roman Empire) are the remnant of Christ marked with the sign of Christ and of the Father. They have been loyal to him, as they have preferred the poverty of Christ above power, prestige and personal safety. They did not belie their integrity as Christians. Our reading presents them to us as praising God in a heavenly liturgy.
The widow goes beyond the law. In her generosity, she does not only give all she has, she has only what she has given. People who are poor often know well how to give because they know what it means to be poor and dependent; they know how to live in the hands of God.
Opening Prayer
Lord our God, generous Father, simple people put us often to shame by their total generosity and straightforward loyalty. Make us realize, Lord, that, like your Son, the real poor of heart often make us understand who you are: a God who gives himself. Grant us too this kind of generous love and loyalty through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading:Revelations14:1-3, 4B-5
I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been ransomed from the earth. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.
Responsorial Psalm PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6
R. (cf. 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. R.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD? or who may stand in his holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. R.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD, a reward from God his saviour. Such is the race that seeks for him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob. R.
Alleluia Matthew 24:42A, 44
R. Alleluia, alleluia. Stay awake! For you do not know when the Son of Man will come. R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel Luke 21:1-4
When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”
Commentary
The symbolic number of those who are saved is 144,000 (a multiple of twelve). They are adherents of both Christ and the Father. A new hymn is being sung in this heavenly setting, but only the followers of the Lamb are able to learn it. As true disciples, they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. This picture of blessedness precedes the account of the devastation that is to be inflicted subsequently.
As disciples of Christ, we are numbered among the elect today. But do we follow the Lamb wherever he goes? There are certainly complex issues today for which there is no simple solution. However, the basic truths that make us Christian are well known to us, and we must hold on to them.
In today’s Gospel story of the poor widow, we are given a clear teaching of what discipleship means. To have little and still find room for generosity is at the heart of our faith. Being a Christian certainly means more than simply avoiding serious sin. We must actively live out the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. No one is too poor as not to serve God with all he has.
Intercessions
– Lord, we pray you for widows and orphans. Keep them from despair and make us attentive to their need of love and compassion, we pray:
– Lord, we pray you for all the poor who are insecure about the next day. May we bring them security and love, we pray:
– Lord, we pray for this community. Make us learn from the poor to be generous enough to share not only from our abundance but also, when needed, from our own poverty, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, if you want someone to suffer or die for sin that we may live,
you take your own Son and he agrees loyally. God, who give yourself, accept these gifts, poor as they are, because in them we place our own generosity in the hope that you will make it grow through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God, generous Father, in your Son Jesus Christ you come to us not the way a rich person would visit an underdeveloped humanity but the way a poor one shares with those who are also poor like him or her. Accept our thanks for giving yourself and revealing in Jesus all the abundance of your love with an infinite respect for our human poverty. Accept our thanks through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
Christ gave his own self to bring others reconciliation and happiness. Christians should learn from him to give themselves without counting the cost, with the blessing of almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!