Readings for Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year B
FIRST READING: 1 Kgs 17: 10-16
Ps 146: 6c-7, 8-9a, 9b-10. "Praise the Lord, my soul! "
SECOND READING: Heb 9: 24-28
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 5: 3). Alleluia, alleluia! Happy the poor in
Spirit; The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
GOSPEL: Mark 12: 38-44 or 12: 41-44
Image Credit: Shutterstock ID: 669705 -Widow's Mite. Jesus commends a poor
widow for giving generously.-By Hannah Gleghorn
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Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass –
(Readings, prayers and homily), for Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time.
Year B - Sunday, November 7, 2021, by clicking this link
here: https://soundcloud.com/user-633212303/faith-hope-and-love-32nd-sunday-ordinary-b-episode-332-shorter?si=a7b54fcfcdaf4d14a18e1fba257b0351
(EPISODE: 332)
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* (Prologue: Fr Paul Kelly)
A little statistical example to show
what Our Lord saw, behind all the 'smoke and mirrors' show going on with many
of the donors at the Temple -
Imagine there are four people wanting
to donate to the treasury. And also imagine that before they
publicly put their coins into the treasury they first had to go to a private
room and convert their donation to special coins which represented how much
they were giving as a proportion of their total wealth. So these special coins
would be worth 1 per cent of the person's wealth, irrespective of how much or
little they were giving...
The results are very revealing:
Fairly wealthy person
1 - intending to give 1000 denarius out of his 10,000 denarius savings =
is given ten coins to put into the treasury.
Very wealthy person 2 - three
thousand out of his 50,000 savings = six coins
Extremely wealthy person 3 -
10,000 out of his 200,000 savings = five coins
Poor widow - for her intended
donation of 3 small pennies out of her 3 penny savings - 100 coins
Notice, in this process, the richest
donor is not giving as much as some less well off but still wealthy donors,
proportionately. And of course, the widow is the most generous and
committed by a huge margin.
no wonder our lord praises her
generosity, faith and commitment -
This lady doesn’t just "pip"
the others by a small amount - she smashes them out of the ballpark.
I reckon that if the above system was
used in donations, publicly flaunting ones total would quickly be dispensed
with, as it would not be as flattering to many.
This weekend, in the scriptures, we come across two different types of
behaviour. The scribes openly seek power, the honour that goes with it and the
exploitation that gains it. Whilst the widow in the first reading and the widow
in the gospel are generous. One group takes while the other group gives without
counting the cost. Are we takers or givers? Generosity is a tricky thing
in a culture defined by independence. We are tempted to focus our
responsibility on taking care of our own needs and desires//.
"Whilst we may not match the confidence and complete selflessness of the
widow's trust in God, we can certainly keep growing in our desire to give much
more than we take.
It is possible to be appearing to be doing enough and giving enough, but only
God sees into the human heart and truly knows what we are capable of. God knows
the circumstances of each of our lives, and values and rejoices in all that is
done with what we have; irrespective of how much it amounts to in quantity or
by comparison with others.
Jesus sits watching as many people come by and donate to the temple treasury…
to the people of Israel, donating to the Temple treasury was considered to be
giving a donation to God…… // Jesus sees what everyone else is seeing… or more
precisely, anyone else could have noticed what Jesus saw… if they were really
looking… but only Our Lord sees what is really happening.
There is a surprising contrast in this incident, There are those whose lives
are publicly dedicated to serving God, but in actual fact, they ARE NOT
entirely committed to God. In essence, despite their grand show, they are
holding a lot of things back…. They HAVE a lot of money and worldly
possessions, and they are giving generously…. But (our Lord perceives that)
they are only giving from their excess……(from what they can well spare to give,
whilst still having plenty more). They keep a lot more for themselves…. They
are not completely dedicated to the cause…..They are saving most of their
possessions for themselves….. or for a rainy day…. But how much does one need
for a rainy day??.....(that's like asking, "how long is a piece of
string?,,,, )……. so they keep most of what they have for themselves and refuse
to use it for the good of others. They trust in their own resources and not God's
providence… and they put their potential future needs before the real AND
ACTUAL needs of those around them, if they bothered to notice them….
And then there is this poor widow, who is in actual need and has very little to
live one…. But she is TOTALLY committed to God's vision. She has invested and
trusted in God's Kingdom totally… and is willing to invest her last penny in
God's Kingdom….. //…. If everyone did that, there would be no more poverty, no
one going without the basics of life while others hoard more than their fair
share for a rainy day that may never arrive…..
Jesus is not teaching us to be reckless or irresponsible… but he is inviting us
to commit ourselves totally to his vision of the Kingdom….
We are again invited to look beyond appearances…. Not to judge by outward
appearances…… to trust in God's providence….. to not to hold back our gifts,
talents and generosity ///
And we need to get rid of measuring the value of things in terms of quantity
//……and focus more on quality We again realise, from this gospel, not to judge
by earthly standards…. And to give from the heart… and realise that everyone
may be giving as much as they can even if it might not look like a lot in
comparison with others…. We cannot see into others' hearts and minds…. And all
of us are called to respond in trust, with generosity, in a non-judgmental
way……and above all ….with Love…. To give 100 per cent to the values and person
of Christ…
Also, the other beautiful thing is: -- Jesus really Cares!!! And he invites us
to have this attitude too…..; Jesus notices the people around him and the
meaning of their actions….!!! // he sees beyond mere appearances and sees what
is real. …. Jesus not only notices this unobtrusive and humble lady……. But he
also notices that this lady has given everything she had…and was, surprisingly
to everyone else, actually the most generous person to have donated that day.
Meanwhile, almost everyone else not only didn't realise the profound generosity
of this humble lady, but also the injustice of the system that doesn't care
about the needs of people like this, nor do anything to help. If this system
was working according to God's desire, that money would hae been contributing
to the needs of people precisely like her. and meanwhile… people probably
didn't even notice her at all….. !!
But Our Lord did !!!
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(Homily: Fr Peter Dillon).
In today's homily, I want to talk about that tainted thing we call
money. It's been on my mind recently with people splurging on the Melbourne
Cup, a $60 million dollar gold Lotto prize, historically low loan rates and
astronomically high housing costs, so I can presume it's on your mind also. And
so it should be since the one single, most accurate and reliable measure of our
spiritual lives and where we stand with God is how we use our money. Now I know
that sounds odd, but in truth money is necessary to live. We work for it, spend
it and try to save it. It takes up a huge proportion of our life and we spend
most of our energy and time acquiring it. Certainly, we might claim we should
try to live, relying only on God's goodness and generosity, but realistically
we live in a world that expects people to earn and spend. If that stops then so
does our life, at least theoretically since we have never tried another way of
living. Living on trust in God alone.
Clearly, Jesus must have known the pressure on people of his time to have the
security that money appears to offer because 16 of the 32 parables he teaches
were about how to handle money. In the entire Bible, there are 500 verses on
prayer, 400 on faith and 2000 on money and possessions. What Jesus knew and we
know all too well that money is an attractive hazard. It is powerful,
sustaining and can bring great joy when used wisely. It can also push us to
excess, to pride and idolatry. Rather than tell us to remove money from our
lives altogether, he wanted us to know that we are not owners of our money but
stewards of it. He suggests that money is on loan to us for the needs of others
and will become the only basis of our final judgment. How wisely did we use the
opportunities we were given for generosity?
It's been said that the true measure of generosity can be measured by what is
left after we give to others. This statement suggests that we have to give
something that will cost us something. This is not just giving what we can live
without, but what we can't live without or don't want to live without. This
kind of giving hurts, but this is also known as love in action, this is when
the gift becomes a sacrifice. But how will it benefit the giver? What's in it
for them?
From a Christian perspective, it is possible to give without losing, in fact,
to give away can be a way of gaining. Take as a metaphor a single candle that
lights many others. The original candle can do so without being diminished.
It's able to share its light without losing its own.
So there is a sense that we can share what we own without being impoverished.
Of course, we are not simply talking here about material things, but things like
our time, our knowledge and expertise, our sense of kindness and tolerance.
This type of giving liberates the soul of the giver. We are asked to give not
just from our abundance but from our substance. That kind of giving always
hurts, because it might leave us feeling insecure and uncertain of how we might
manage. It might make us feel like we have no more to give, but it's that kind
of giving that count with Jesus.
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References:
Homily – fr peter Dillon
Prologue - Fr Paul W. Kelly
((1)http://www.loyolapress.com/32nd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-b-sunday-connection.htm)
Image Credit: Shutterstock ID: 669705 -Widow's Mite. Jesus commends a
poor widow for giving generously.-By Hannah Gleghorn
Thirty-Second Sunday Ordinary Time. Year B (Sunday, November 7,
2021)
(EPISODE: 332)
The Lord be with you.
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{{Peace and Patience to you all}} welcome everyone, we gather
- Reflect upon the Holy Scriptures and the values of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the Lord's
supper, let us recall our sins and acknowledge them in silence.
sung (or Lord Jesus, you have revealed yourself as the way to the Father:
Lord, have mercy//You have poured out on your people the Spirit of truth:
Christ, have mercy//You are the Good Shepherd, leading us to eternal life: Lord
have mercy)
May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to
everlasting life. Amen.
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Memorial Acclamation
2. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we
proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
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Ps 146: 6c-7, 8-9a, 9b-10. "Praise the Lord,
my soul! "
GOSPEL ACCLAMATION (Matt 5: 3). Alleluia,
alleluia! Happy the poor in Spirit; The Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
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PREFACE: Sundays I
EP II
(theme variation: 2 )
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{I pray this week brings you an ever deeper experience of Our Lord's
compassion and love}
Go in peace.(glorifying the Lord by your life)
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Archive of homilies and reflections: http://homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To
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Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this
Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and
reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International
Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by
the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg'. E.J.
Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney Australia).
Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski.
The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn -
in memory of William John (Bill) Kelly (1942-2017) - Inspired by 1
Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung, with additional
lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W Kelly.
1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J
Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St Patrick's
Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
Sound Engineering and editing - P.W. Kelly.
Microphones: -
Sennheiser MK4 Cardioid Condenser;
and Shure Motiv MV5 Digital Condenser.
Editing equipment: NCH software - MixPad Multitrack Studio Recording Software
NCH – WavePad Audio Editing Software. Masters Edition v 12.44
Sound Processing: iZotope RX 6 Audio Editor
[ Production - KER - 2021]
May God bless and keep you.
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