1 Kings 17:1-16, Psalm 146, Hebrews 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44
Have you ever felt that God rescued you? When I was leaving Mass one weekend, I was heading down concrete stairs and my feet just slipped off the step I was on. Immediately afterward I was simply somehow pushed back to solid ground and continued my descent–whew!–! I know it wasn’t I who made gravity work for me.
God has performed other rescues, through his friends the prophets as well as through our holy guardian angels. In the time of the prophet Elijah, a poor widow and her son were starving. She fed Elijah a small meal and then, afterwards, as Elijah had promised her, their “jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry….” (1 Kings Ch. 17). Elijah rescued the little family from physical starvation. Our Lord Jesus has provided his wider family, the Church, with food that will last until eternity. This “food of eternal life” proceeds from the greatest “rescue” of all time, his saving death and resurrection, when he was “offered once to take away the sins of many (Hebrews Ch. 9)”. I have to be grateful and ought to be hopeful. Frequent Holy Communion links me to heaven’s banquet.
Psalm 146 explains why my limits shouldn’t limit my hopefulness. God tells me in the encouraging verses how he rescues us mortals in different ways, in our needs – bowed down, fatherless..– and in our frailties – hungry, blind. These identify human persons made in God’s image, deserving of respect and assistance – captives, strangers. God is ever-present to assist his children and I have to ask myself – am I “ever present” to serve the needs of others?
My help can be as small as a smile. The widow’s two small coins (Mark 12) were valued highly from heaven’s perspective. “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.” Her “mite” was helping to support the mighty temple of God’s chosen people!
The holy souls in Purgatory are a special group in need whom we offer prayer and sacrifice in November. They cannot help themselves and they suffer. We don’t need to look far for unique ways to help them. Just uniting our weary steps with those of Jesus for their sake can relieve their constant travail. We can add them to our daily Rosary with only a thought, and broaden our care for the whole Mystical Body. They can help us, too, by interceding from their vantage point – aren’t they already “online for heaven”?
The darkening dusk and the end of the Church year remind us of the end of our lives. The mysterious “rescue” of death ends earthly suffering. It also opens for us the bright door of eternity for which we were created.
In God’s plan, the generous rescues that we ourselves perform “cover a multitude” of our own sins and neglects. Our gentle Jesus does not want us to worry. He does want us to rescue others. You, our generous friends, help us to do just that.
We pray that all those we love who have left this earthly life will soon enjoy the unconditional and tender love for them on the face of Jesus. He waits above to embrace them forever.
May they rest in peace! Amen.
and then