"SHE GAVE FROM HER WANT".

THIRTY-SECOND SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME. YEAR B.
November 12, 2006.
(First Reading: 1 Kings 17:10-16) (Second reading: Hebrews 9:24-28)
(Gospel Reading: Mark 12:38-44)

"SHE GAVE FROM HER WANT".

"The poor widow gave from her want all that she had to live on... All the others gave from their surplus wealth" (Mark 12"44).

The gospel tells us that there are two types of giving: The giving from one's want (which is the way the poor widow gave) and the giving from one's surplus wealth (which is the way the wealthy gave).

Christian giving is the sharing of the world's resources among all human beings. Christian giving is a way of life in which all goods and resources of the world exist for the sole purpose of serving the well being of mankind, in other words, the world's goods and resources are destined to meet the needs of all human beings individually and collectively as required by human dignity.

The satisfaction of a person's needs is an integral part of the person's own life, just as the needs of a person are an integral part of the person's life. All the things a person needs to live, with the fullness of human dignity, are a part of his life. That is what he needs to live, that is what sustains his life. In other words, I could say "My needs are part of my life".

Now, all the goods and resources that a person possesses beyond what he needs to fully satisfy his needs (at the highest level of human dignity), constitutes surplus wealth. Therefore, surplus wealth is not a part of the person"s life.

Let us now take a look at the two types of giving the gospel presents:
- Giving from one's want. In the gospel the poor widow "gave from her want all that she had to live on" (Mark 12:44).

In the first reading (1st Book of Kings) a poor widow offers Elijah a piece of bread which she would make with the last amount of flour and oil she has for herself and her son to live on. The meager resource the widow had to meet her needs was part of her life (it was not surplus wealth). The widow then was to give part of her life, what was truly hers.

Giving from one's want is true sacrifice, true generosity, true giving. It is the type of giving that enriches other human beings, for it comes from the very life of the person. It is the only contribution that will receive God's reward.

- Giving from one's surplus wealth. The one who gives from his surplus wealth does not give anything of himself. In fact, this type of giving is not Christian giving at all for the following reasons:
a) Surplus wealth belongs to those who were dispossessed of the essentials of life, to those who were deprived of their means on subsistence.

b) Giving from one's surplus wealth is not an expression of charity, rather it is a revelation of a preexistent injustice.

c) Giving from one's surplus wealth is not an act of personal sacrifice, rather it is an act demanded by fairness.

d) Giving from one's surplus wealth involves no commitment from oneself, rather it involves something outside oneself.

e) Giving from one's surplus wealth is empty of all personal merit although it may give the appearance of sacrifice and generosity.

The poor widow gives us a foretaste of what Jesus will later give mankind.
Jesus not only gives from his want, from what he needs to live, he does not only give all he has to live on. Jesus takes his giving one step further: He gives us his LIFE.

The second reading (Letter to the Hebrews) explains what Jesus accomplishes by giving us his life: He will "bring salvation to those who eagerly await him" (Hebrews 9:28), that is, he will bring salvation to those who imitate the example of his generosity, of his commitment, of his willingness to share himself with all mankind. The gift from those who give from their want is the gift that brings about peace, justice, harmony, prosperity for all human beings.

Our World Refuses to Give From Its Want.
For example, at the international level, powerful and wealthy nations lack the ability to give from their want(1), and all they can do is to give from their surplus wealth. Even then, their "giving" is most of the time, if not always, a tool to perpetuate their dominance on the poor nations. The so called "financial aid" from wealthy nations (or their international financial institutions) usually consists of scandalously usurious loans at interest rates the poor nations can never fully repaid, thus forcing the latter to pay the interests forever and inflicting even deeper and more painful human tragedies on the vast majorities of the people in poor nations.

Another example of the wealthy nations' lack of ability to give from their want is the so called "globalization" which, under the pretext of giving out new technologies and modernization, only pursues the augmentation of the richest's wealth at the expense of the increased pauperization of the poor peoples of the world.

The sobering example of the poor widow who gave from her want, is an example today for all the peoples, for all the nations of our world, a world that needs so much to use its goods and resources for the well being of all mankind.
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Footnotes.
(1) This lack of ability is intentional because the wealthy (whether individuals or groups or nations) would always deny that their surplus wealth is the product of the dispossession of the poor.