ENTRANCE ANTIPHON
Let my prayer come before you, Lord; listen, and answer me.
PENITENTIAL RITE
“Give till it hurts,” said Blessed Teresa of Kolkata once. It is not what and
how much we give that matters but rather how lovingly and cheerfully we give.
According to St Paul, “God loves a cheerful giver.” Jesus assures us that the
measure we give will be the measure we shall receive.” Today’s readings invite
us to reflect on our attitude towards giving. As we celebrate the total
self-giving of Jesus in this Eucharistic celebration, let us look into our lives
and be sorry for all the times we have given away our things, our time and
resources without really giving ourselves totally.
I confess...
Glory to God...
OPENING PRAYER
Let us pray: God of power and mercy, protect us from all harm. Give us freedom
of spirit and health in mind and body to do your work on earth. We ask this…
FIRST READING
(This reading portrays the total self-giving of the widow of Zarephath who fed
Elijah with whatever little she had and is rewarded with a miracle. We must be
charitable towards the needy neighbour even when we have only bare essentials
for ourselves.)
A reading from the First Book of the Kings (17:10-16)
Elijah went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a
widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Bring me a
little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it,
he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” And she
said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal
in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of
sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat
it, and die.” And Elijah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you have said; but
first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for
yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of
meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that
the Lord sends rain upon the earth’.” And she went and did as Elijah said; and
she, and he, and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent,
neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he
spoke by Elijah.
This is the Word of the Lord
PSALM (145)
Response: My soul, give praise to the Lord.
It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever, who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is he who gives bread to the hungry, the Lord, who sets prisoners free. R./
It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind, who raises up those who are bowed
down. It is the Lord who loves the just, the Lord, who protects the stranger.
R./
He upholds the widow and orphan but thwarts the path of the wicked. The Lord
will reign for ever, Zion’s God, from age to age. R./
SECOND READING
(The author of the Letter to the Hebrews makes a distinction between the
sacrifices offered by the high priests and the non-repeatable self-sacrifice of
Jesus. Christ our high priest offered himself in sacrifice once for all, for his
sacrifice has infinite value.)
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews (9:24-28)
Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true
one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place
yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly
since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at
the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it
is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ,
having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time,
not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
This is the Word of the Lord
ACCLAMATION (Mt 24:42,44)
Alleluia, alleluia! Watch and be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an hour
you do not expect. Alleluia!
GOSPEL
(In today’s gospel Jesus makes a distinction between the scribes who long to
devour the property of widows and a widow who puts her whole living in the
treasury of the Temple. Jesus warns the people to beware of and not to imitate
the hypocrisy of the Scribes.)
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to St Mark (12:38-44)
In his teaching Jesus said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long
robes, and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in the
synagogues and the places of honour at feasts, who devour widows’ houses and for
a pretence make long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.” And
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude putting money
into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came,
and put in two copper coins, which make a penny.
And he called his disciples to him, and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this
poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury.
For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has
put in everything she had, her whole living.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord
I believe in God,/the Father almighty,/ Creator of heaven and earth./ I believe
in Jesus Christ,/his only Son, our Lord./ He was conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit/ and born of the Virgin Mary./He suffered under Pontius Pilate,/was
crucified, died, and was buried./He descended to the dead./On the third day he
rose again./He ascended into heaven,/and is seated at the right hand of the
Father./He will come again to judge the living and the dead./I believe in the
Holy Spirit,/the holy catholic Church,/the communion of saints,/the forgiveness
of sins,/the resurrection of the body,/and the life everlasting./ Amen.
PRAYER OF THE FAITHFUL
Cel: Dear brothers and sisters, God our Father loved the world so much that he
did not spare his only son but gave him as a ransom for the salvation of the
world. Let us ask the Lord to give us a generous and compassionate heart.
Response: Lord, give us a generous and cheerful heart.
1. That our Holy Father, the Pope, Bishops, priests, religious and lay leaders
continue to give themselves generously and totally to the building up of the
Kingdom of God. R./
2. That those who are blessed with much may be ready to give much to society and
use their resources to bring about the kingdom of equality, justice and
brotherhood. R./
3. That we may acquire a proper attitude towards our possessions and develop an
attitude of giving, especially to those who are in dire need. R./
4. That we Christians all over the world may draw inspiration from the example
of the poor widow in the gospel and learn to give from our heart. R./
(Pray for local and personal needs)
Cel: Almighty God, thank you for your son who set an example of total
self-giving by his life and teaching. Help us to be detached from the worldly
possessions and heap up treasures in heaven through our generosity and
self-sacrifice. We make this...
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
God of mercy, in this Eucharist we proclaim the death of the Lord. Accept the
gifts we present and help us follow him with love, for he is Lord for ever and
ever.
PREFACE (P 31)
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to
give you thanks.
We see your infinite power in your loving plan of salvation. You came to our
rescue by your power as God, but you wanted us to be saved by one like us. Man
refused your friendship, but man himself was to restore it through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Through him the angels of heaven offer their prayer of adoration as
they rejoice in your presence forever. May our voices be one with theirs in
their triumphant hymn of praise:
All: Holy, holy, holy...
COMMUNION ANTIPHON
The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. In green pastures he
gives me rest, he leads me beside the waters of peace.
PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION
Lord, we thank you for the nourishment you give us through your holy gift. Pour
out your Spirit upon us and in the strength of this food from heaven keep us
single-minded in your service. We ask this…
Liturgy & Life
A priest gave a very touching testimony about
his experience in a deserted mission station. Once as he was waiting for the bus
at the bus stop just outside his mission centre he saw a poor man with a bundle
of wooden logs on his head walking towards him. He was sure the man was going to
ask him for some money. Just then he saw on the other side, the bus was fast
approaching the bus stop. If he left this bus the next bus would be after two
hours. He did not know what to do. Finally the man reached the place where the
priest was standing and the bus too reached the stop. The missionary was tense.
Before he could step into the bus the man threw the bundle of the wooden logs on
the ground and called out to the priest in his local language, “Father, please
wait.” The priest was about to lose his temper before which he saw the poor man
taking out a 10-rupee note and giving it to the priest saying, “Father, please
drop this into the Church collection box. Yesterday was Sunday and I could not
come for mass.” The priest was wonderstruck at the poor man’s heart-stirring
attitude in giving.
Today’s readings are inviting us to reflect on our attitude towards giving. The
widow of Zarephath in Sidon was affected by the famine in the land. In fact
widowhood is the sign of dependency. Therefore the Israelites were commanded to
take special care of the widow, the orphan and the sojourner. The widow had very
little flour in the jar and very little oil in the bottle. But she recognized
Elijah as the man of God and put Elijah’s need above her need. Jesus praised the
widow who put her earnings in the collection box in the Temple of Jerusalem. Her
concern for the upkeep of the temple and the civil order superseded her personal
needs. Both these widows portray an image of people who think, it is finally God
who is in-charge of their belongings. This leads us to think of four attitudes
towards giving:
Forceful Giving: In such case the act of giving is not inspired from within. It
is rather the effect of external force such as prestige, fame, social pressure.
Ananias and Zaphira sold their property in order to help the infant church in
Acts 5. But they kept a small portion behind which finally became the cause of
their death. If one does not give oneself in the gift then one loses the gift as
well as the joy of giving.
Duty based Giving: The people of Israel in the OT as well as the Jews in the NT
experienced duty based giving in the form of Taxes. This attitude still exists
in the income tax and other official contributions. Jesus himself has clarified
his position about this, “Give to Caesar what is Caeser’s and give to God what
belongs to God.” If we have a proper attitude towards such giving we shall do it
cheerfully.
Conditional Giving: In this case the person gives something out of the condition
of getting it back again. Hence there is a string attached. In such a case the
joy of giving will not come to the person till the person is paid back. Peter
wanted to know what they would get in return for giving up the family and
property. Jesus makes it clear that if it is for the sake of the Kingdom of God
and if it is accompanied with self-denial, they would get it back 100-fold of
all that they have given up plus eternal life with persecution.
Unconditional Giving: In such case as Jesus says, when you arrange a dinner,
call those who cannot repay you. The people who do this give others little more
than they expect from them. Give yourself in the giving of a thing. In today’s
Second Reading, the author of Hebrews speaks of the sacrifice offered by the Old
Testament High Priest and the offering of Jesus. It is a total self-giving. The
widow of Zarephath and the widow in the temple gave themselves and have
immovable place in the Bible. This is the reward of total self-giving.
I end with the Marathi poet Vinda Karandikar’s saying, “If at all you want to
take something from the giver, take his attitude of giving.” Let us build up a proper attitude of giving.
—Fr Robert D’Souza
November 2009
READINGS OF THE WEEK
Psalter Week 4
9 Mon (W) DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA (Fst) Ezek 47:1-2,8-9,12
or 1 Cor 3,9c-11,16-17; Ps 45:2-3,5-6,8-9; Jn 2:13-22
10 Tue (W) St Leo the Great, Pp dr (mem) Wis 2:23-3:9; Ps 33:2-3,16-17,18-19; Lk
17:7-10
11 Wed (W) St Martin of Tours, bp (mem) Wis 6:1-11; Ps 81:3-4,6-7; Lk 17:11-19
12 Thu (R) St Josaphat, bp m (mem) Wis 7:22-8:1; Ps 118:89-90,91&130,135&175; Lk
17:20-25
13 Fri (G) Wis 13:1-9; Ps 18:2-3,4-5ab; Lk 17:26-37
14 Sat (G) Wis 18:14-16;19:6-9; Ps 104:2-3,36-37,42-43; Lk 18:1-8
