{"id":2689,"date":"2018-11-11T12:35:34","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T17:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2689"},"modified":"2018-11-11T12:35:34","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T17:35:34","slug":"32nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/32nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-b-homily-2\/","title":{"rendered":"32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"

32nd<\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B<\/a>
\n1 Kings 17:10-16
\nPsalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (1b)
\nHebrews 9:24-28
\nMark 12:38-44
\nNovember 11, 2018<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s gospel portrays two types of people, the givers and the takers.<\/p>\n

First Jesus speaks about the scribes who \u201cgo around in long robes..accept greetings\u2026seats..and places of honor.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0 They want to receive acclaim for their position.\u00a0 They \u201ctake\u201d all the recognition they can get.\u00a0 They are full of pride.<\/p>\n

They also \u201cdevour the houses of widows<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 They \u201cdevour\u201d in the sense they force even the poor to give so that they (the scribes) can live a life of luxury.\u00a0 They do nothing to help the widows.<\/p>\n

Then Jesus speaks of the \u201cgivers,\u201d those who give to the treasury and their generosity.\u00a0 There are \u201crich people who put in large sums<\/em>\u201d yet it is poor widow that He praises for her giving.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Jesus answers why when He says the rich give from their surplus while the poor widow gave from all that she had.\u00a0 The rich don\u2019t need the money they put in the treasury.\u00a0 They will never miss the money (except for their greed) but the widow will.\u00a0 They give from their surplus.\u00a0 She gives with her heart.<\/p>\n

What motivates your giving?\u00a0 Do you give out of obligation?\u00a0 Do you give to look good to others (pride)?\u00a0 Where is God in your priorities of what you do with your money?\u00a0 Do you give from what is left over after you paid your bills and do the things you want<\/em><\/strong> or do you put God before your wants?<\/p>\n

The parable speaks of money.\u00a0 Financial giving is one<\/em><\/strong> way of way of being generous.\u00a0 We count on your financial generosity to be able to pay our utilities, staff, and suppliers to be able to bring Christ to the world.\u00a0 However, giving money (treasure) is not the only way to give.<\/p>\n

Look at the generous woman in the first reading.\u00a0 She has no money and only a little flour left.\u00a0 She is from Zarephath, which means she is probably not an Israelite, yet she is willing to share what little she has with Elijah.\u00a0 When you make a meal, are you willing to share with the neighbor who might be sick or infirmed and can\u2019t cook much for themselves?<\/p>\n

What is behind your giving?\u00a0 Is it true generosity?\u00a0 Is your giving motivated by your trust that God will always provide?\u00a0 Or you giving something while expecting it to lead to you getting more?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard some televangelists talk about \u201canticipatory giving.\u201d\u00a0 This means giving with the idea that God will bless you in the future with more.\u00a0 I have literally heard them tell a story of a person who gave $200 that they needed for themselves.\u00a0 A couple of weeks later they received $2,000 they didn\u2019t expect.\u00a0 The televangelist says this is God blessing them for their generosity and tells others they should give in the same way and God will bless them.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to tell you to give so God will give you more but I will encourage you to be grateful for the blessings God has already <\/em><\/strong>given you.\u00a0 The blessings God has already given us should lead us to trust that God will provide what we need<\/em><\/strong> in the future.\u00a0 We are to give with an attitude of gratitude for what we have.<\/p>\n

As I said before, financial giving is not the only way to give.\u00a0 We can also give of our time and talents.\u00a0 We can use the talents that God has given us to help other people, giving our time in service.<\/p>\n

Normally I give examples of ways of helping our church or other non-profits when I speak of giving of time and talent but since today is Veteran\u2019s Day, I will mention our veterans who give in military service.\u00a0 War is not good, we need to pray that wars never need to be fought but we give thanks for the men and women who have served in our military.\u00a0 Some come home safely while others give their lives in battle while still others are forever effected with PTSD from their experiences.<\/p>\n

Last week we heard Jesus say that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second is to love our neighbor.\u00a0 I believe that love can transform the world.<\/p>\n

This week there was another mass shooting with twelve victims.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t heard a motive yet in this shooting but certainly life was not respected and in many shootings, \u201chate\u201d for someone or some group of people is a significant factor.<\/p>\n

God transforms bread and wine into Jesus\u2019 Body and Blood as the Eucharist we receive.\u00a0 Through his grace, God can take our generous love and use it to transform the world.\u00a0 How many wars have happened throughout history because of someone\u2019s greed?\u00a0 Military power might stop a battle but only love can transform the world and bring true peace.<\/p>\n

You have heard God\u2019s Word here today.\u00a0 Shortly, we will celebrate the Eucharist.\u00a0 Let yourself be transformed by what you hear and receive today.\u00a0 It comes to you from God\u2019s love.\u00a0 Then, take that love out to the world so that God\u2019s kingdom may come.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B 1 Kings 17:10-16 Psalm 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 (1b) Hebrews 9:24-28 Mark 12:38-44 November 11, 2018 Today\u2019s gospel portrays two types of people, the givers and the takers. First Jesus speaks about the scribes who \u201cgo around in long robes..accept greetings\u2026seats..and places of honor.\u201d\u00a0 They want to receive acclaim …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B – Homily’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-Hn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2689"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2691,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2689\/revisions\/2691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}