Before launching into the substance of today’s homily, I want to remind you that during next week’s liturgy we will set aside a specific time to turn in your stewardship pledge cards if you have not already done so. Today’s reflection on the scripture might be considered contemplation on the abundance of God’s power and mercy in our lives.
Long-standing interpretation had it that today’s Gospel passage praised the poor widow for donating “all she had to live on” to the temple treasury (which in our minds we were to equate with giving our all to God).
The Gospel writer, however, gives this a context that supports an entirely different interpretation. The first part of this homily will suggest you need not emulate widow of the gospel. The second part will speak directly to stewardship understood as an act of faith.
Idolatrous worship is the target of the passage and the actors are the scribes and those they defraud. Idolatrous, because inert objects in the form of money had come between God and the People of the Torah.
To be fair, most scribes were not corrupt, but they were the rough equivalent of the lawyers of our day.
We all need lawyers at one time or another, but most of us still laugh at lawyer jokes and roll our eyes when William Shatner hawks the services of a certain law firm on television.
Likewise, the Jewish people needed scholars learned in the Torah, but the system of compensation created many opportunities for what we would call white-collar crime.
Widows and orphans had no standing when it came to property, so scribes were called upon to act as trustees of their property.
The temptation to defraud in ways small and large was intense.
To Jesus this system required a prophetic denunciation because it corrupted the Torah which specified that widows and orphans needed special protection.
Picture, once again, the scene in the outer courtyard of the Jerusalem temple, called the courtyard of the women.
13 vessels shaped like trumpets are placed around the courtyard.
The faithful toss their offering coins into one of the trumpets, where the coins hit the sides and roll downward through the spiral until they come to rest at the bottom.
Coins make distinctive sounds as they hit the inner wall of the trumpet, depending on the size and make-up of the coin.
All within earshot know how great was the donor’s status by the sound it made.
The external show of status is satirized here, but the widow is not being affirmed for her donation.
Rather, the system that leaves her destitute is being condemned.
Jesus is facing down the power of a corrupting system and in the passages we will hear proclaimed in the next two weeks, he indicates an apocalyptic future awaits the structure that has placed heavy burdens on the poor.
We now segue to stewardship as an act of faith.
When I was a child I learned that in addition to the ten commandments of the Jewish Torah and in addition to the two greatest commandments as taught by Jesus, there were also six laws or commandments of the Catholic Church.
While it might be interesting to hold a trivia contest to see who can name all six, the one that almost everyone will likely remember is “You shall help provide for the needs of the Church.”
My great grandparents came from central Europe and brought with them some customs that we might find curious today.
My German ancestors were taxed for the church needs in the old country; here they adopted the pew rent as a means of supporting the local parish.
My mother tells the story of my grandfather arriving at the church to find that someone else was occupying the family pew and he asked the usher to kindly find another place for the interloper to sit or stand.
My Polish ancestors brought a Slavic shame-based approach to church support.
Annually the pastor published the amount that each family had contributed to the church in the past year.
As abhorrent as these tactics seem to me now, they did instill in church members the importance of setting aside some material goods for the common good of their spiritual home.
This homily could be viewed as a “closer” to the campaign season that began October 21st when Bill Beers’ homily opened up the campaign and we began receiving our pledge material.
I would, however, like to think that this homily is also an opener and that the campaign to secure pledges creates an ongoing reflection on how we act out our faith in the God of Jesus.
Bill emphasized that we do need to take personally the mission, vision and values of HWM; that our pledge of talent and time and treasure places us squarely with the Sisters and the long history of ecumenism, inclusion and care for the earth.
Alice Jensen in her testimony two weeks ago shared how this monastery saved her spiritual life.
That same day, Jean Ferraca related in her testimony how the inclusive sharing of the bread of life in this Sunday Assembly is due to the heroic courage of the Sisters of HWM.
Jean concluded quoting, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”.
To all of the very important motives for pledging our treasure to the ongoing expenses of this monastery, I wish to add two.
The first has to do with control.
Like most humans, I enjoy seeing how my effort contributes to the common good. In practice, it does me little good to micro-manage how efficiently or effectively my donation is dealt with.
It is always better for me to give with no strings attached.
The second has to do with priorities.
Anyone who has read books on how to invest for the future has seen the sentence, “Pay yourself first”, meaning place a priority on putting something away each payday into your retirement savings account, an excellent suggestion by the way.
Better, however, to “offer first fruits”, that is an on offering of thanksgiving from each paycheck to people and organizations that need our support.
Early in our marriage, Patti and I made a commitment to set aside a certain percentage of our combined take home pay as a first fruits offering.
Later we upped the ante and set aside a percentage of our pre-tax income.
Somehow, making that effort and commitment gave us greater freedom in all our other priorities. In most of these cases we find that automatic withdrawals on a monthly basis from our checking or savings are helpful to us and helpful to the people and organizations we want to be a part of.
I closed with two suggestions for your consideration as you ponder how you will complete your pledge form.
1, Please, do not donate all you have to live on to HWM.
2, Please do not look upon this edifice as anything more than or less than a temporary spiritual home, kind of like a tent in the desert as we wander –purposefully and with hope to our only home.
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You call us to be heralds of your good news; make us strong and faithful messengers of your reign, we pray …
Champion of peace, on this 100th anniversary of the armistice of the “war to end all war”, send your spirit on the leaders of the world; turn their eyes toward the poor and suffering, we pray …
Protect and defend those who are discriminated against because of race, color, class, language or religion that they may be accorded the rights and dignity which are theirs, we pray …
For what else shall we pray?
Please quietly mention those whose needs you carry in your heart. For these and all whose names are written in our book of intentions, we pray …
Holy One, you have given us this great day of rejoicing: Jesus Christ, the stone rejected by the builders, has become the cornerstone of the Church, our spiritual home. Shed upon your Church the rays of your glory, that it may be seen as the gate of salvation open to all nations and people. Let cries of joy and exultation ring out from its tents, to celebrate the wonder of Christ’s resurrection.
We pray in Jesus’ name.