God Has a Purpose for My Life

Pastor’s Column

32^rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 11, 2018

“…but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had”

from Mark 12:41-44

Today’s gospel finds Jesus sitting by the place in the temple where people would put their money offerings, silently watching. Many had lots to give, but Jesus is more attracted to a poor widow who put in only two small coins, for she gives everything she had.

There are times in all of our lives when we may wonder what purpose God has in mind for us or what possible mission or purpose there can be. What am I here for? Why am I sick or have these family troubles or an issue that simply will not go away at work or in my personal life?

This beautiful prayer from Blessed John Newman I hope will help some of you who may need it. Cardinal Newman wrote it during a troubled period of his life. He never lost hope; “God knows what he is about”.

Father Gary

God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments. Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.

Blessed John Henry Newman

Reflections from Scott Hahn

The Widows’ Faith: Scott Hahn Reflects on the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

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The Widow’s Mite, Basilica di Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, 6th c.

Readings:
1 Kings 1:10–16
Psalm 146:7–10
Hebrews 9:24–28
Mark 12:41–44

We must live by the obedience of faith, a faith that shows itself in works of charity and self-giving (see Galatians 5:6). That’s the lesson of the two widows in today’s liturgy.

The widow in the First Reading isn’t even a Jew, yet she trusts in the word of Elijah and the promise of his Lord. Facing sure starvation, she gives all that she has, her last bit of food—feeding the man of God before herself and her family.

The widow in the Gospel also gives all that she has, offering her last bit of money to support the work of God’s priests in the Temple.

In their self-sacrifice, these widows embody the love that Jesus last week revealed as the heart of the Law and the Gospel. They mirror the Father’s love in giving His only Son, and Christ’s love in sacrificing Himself on the cross.

Again in today’s Epistle, we hear Christ described as a new high priest and the suffering servant foretold by Isaiah. On the cross, He made sacrifice once and for all to take away our sin and bring us to salvation (see Isaiah 53:12).

And again we are called to imitate His sacrifice of love in our own lives. We will be judged, not by how much we give—for the scribes and the wealthy contribute far more than the widow. Rather, we will be judged by whether our gifts reflect our livelihood, our whole beings, all our heart and soul, mind and strength.

Are we giving all that we can to the Lord—not out of a sense of forced duty, but in a spirit of generosity and love (see 2 Corinthians 9:6–7)?

Do not be afraid, the man of God tells us today. As we sing in today’s Psalm, the Lord will provide for us, as He sustains the widow.

Today, let us follow the widows’ example, doing what God asks, confident that our jars of flour will not grow empty, nor our jugs of oil run dry.