Thirty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Remembrance of Saint Leo the Great (+461), bishop of Rome, who led the Church through difficult times.

First Reading

1 Kings 17,10-16

So he went off to Sidon. And when he reached the city gate, there was a widow gathering sticks. Addressing her he said, 'Please bring a little water in a pitcher for me to drink.' She was on her way to fetch it when he called after her. 'Please', he said, 'bring me a scrap of bread in your hand.' 'As Yahweh your God lives,' she replied, 'I have no baked bread, but only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug; I am just gathering a stick or two to go and prepare this for myself and my son to eat, and then we shall die.' But Elijah said to her, 'Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son. For Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: Jar of meal shall not be spent, jug of oil shall not be emptied, before the day when Yahweh sends rain on the face of the earth.' 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 Yahweh had foretold through Elijah.

Psalmody

Psalm 146

Antiphon

How beautiful it is to sing to the Lord.

Praise the Lord for he is good;
sing to our God for he is loving;
to him our praise is due.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem
and brings back Israel's exiles,

he heals the broken-hearted,
he binds up all their wounds.

He fixes the number of the stars;
he calls each one by its name.

Our Lord is great and almighty;
his wisdom can never be measures.

The Lord raises the lowly;
he humbles the wicked to the dust.

O sing to the Lord, giving thanks;
sing Psalms to our God with the harp.

He covers the heavens with clouds;
he prepares the rain for the earth,

making mountains sprout with grass
and with plants to serve man's needs.

He provides the beasts with their food
and young ravens that call upon him.

His delight is not in horses
nor his pleasure in warriors' strength.

The Lord delights in those who revere him,
in those who wait for his love.

Second Reading

Hebrews 9,24-28

It is not as though Christ had entered a man-made sanctuary which was merely a model of the real one; he entered heaven itself, so that he now appears in the presence of God on our behalf. And he does not have to offer himself again and again, as the high priest goes into the sanctuary year after year with the blood that is not his own, or else he would have had to suffer over and over again since the world began. As it is, he has made his appearance once and for all, at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself. Since human beings die only once, after which comes judgement, so Christ too, having offered himself only once to bear the sin of many, will manifest himself a second time, sin being no more, to those who are waiting for him, to bring them salvation.

Reading of the Gospel

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Mark 12,38-44

In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.' He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Yesterday I was buried with Christ,
today I rise with you who are risen.
With you I was crucified;
remember me, Lord, in your kingdom.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Homily

"The large crowd was listening to him with delight," the Gospel notes. Why? Listening to the Gospel, and listening to it with delight, is decisive for salvation. Already the Book of Sirach exhorted the wise person to "be ready to listen to every godly discourse" (6:35). We are at the end of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem, and the contrast with the scribes and Pharisees has reached its climax. Scribes and Pharisees are those who dictate what happiness or unhappiness is; they are those who govern our consciences. Jesus, with only his reaching, denounces their behaviour: "They devour widows' houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers." The widows' houses are the houses of those who do not have anyone to defend them. Even today there are many houses of widows, orphans, and even entire countries that are not defended. Yes, there are many widows like the one in Zarephath, whose story we heard in the book of Kings. In many houses and lands there is nothing to eat tomorrow. There is no future. Who is looking at these widows? Who will take care of them? Jesus looks at them and defends them. He looks at them as he gazed at that widow who made her offering for the temple. Jesus sees her throwing her two coins in the treasure. No one, of course, notices her. She does not come from a noble family and so she does not attract attention; she does not belong to the world of rich and famous people so she is not noticed. However, Jesus looked with affection and admiration at that woman. Only Jesus gives her attention. Jesus teaches the disciples, who were absentminded or focused only on impressive things, to look with love and care at the smallest things.
It is not by chance that the evangelist locates this insignificant, certainly not glamorous, episode at the end of Jesus' public life and of his teaching in the temple of Jerusalem. Contrary to the young rich man who "went away grieving" because he had many riches and wanted to keep them for himself (Mk 10:22), this poor widow, by giving everything, teaches us how to love God and the Gospel. She went away happy. We could say that she was a widow in the eyes of the people but she was loved by Jesus whose eyes had rested on her. It is the happiness the disciples enjoy - including us - every time they entrust themselves to the Lord and His mercy. It does not matter if our faith seems like two coins; if it is sincere is everything.