32 Sunday , Cycle B, November 12, 2006

Scripture: I Kings 17:10-16. Psalm 146:7-10. Hebrews 9:24-48. Mark 12:38-44.

Hebrews has this striking sentence for today, " Christ was offered up once to take away the sins of many; he will appear a second time not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him." (Heb.9:28). This was the line that caught my attention and helped my prayer reflection. Then, in the Gospel, I was struck by the fact that Jesus is the only one who notices the poor woman placing her last bit of money into the treasury of the Temple. He is so observant of our inner intentions both the good ones and the not so good. His love and mercy comforted me as I thought of this memorable moment in his life and hers; she is nameless but her example is forever remembered. Just like the woman who washed Jesus feet...a book appeared on her called "In Memory of Her."

Recently, a very learned speaker from Hebrew Union University in Los Angeles gave a symposium here in my city at the United Methodist Seminary. He used an expression that I have frequently come back to in my thoughts when I study, teach, or pray the Scriptures. He said that the Sacred Scriptures cannot be erased. He meant that for Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Then he showed us the importance of knowing the concrete circumstances that surrounded texts that dealt with war. All were able to be better understood while seeing the historical circumstances that surrounded these texts. No one religion was left from his pointing out what this meant in the three monotheistic religions. I liked the fact that he insisted several times that our Scriptures cannot be erased. They have to be looked at in dialogue, study, and interfacing with each other without any form of "mine is better than yours." Each believer may be absolutely convinced that nothing is better than his or hers, but this is the case with each differing believer in their respective religions. The Scriptures cannot be erased but they can be explained and seen in the light of where we are today with both scientific study of them as well as prayerful use of them and dialogical discussion of them.

The other Scripture text that helped my thoughts for today came from Psalm 146 verses 7-8: "Praise, the Lord, my soul! The Lord keeps faith forever, secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry." This is acceptable to all of our Scriptures both the Koran, the New Testament, and the Tanakh which contains the Psalms.

Finally, we can see the work of a true prophet who is concerned about the poor woman who will feed him with her last bit of flour and oil. She has miraculously enough for a whole year even though she was preparing the last meal for her son. God is never outdone in generosity; nor should we! Amen.