Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark: 12:38-44)
Homily Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Mark: 12:38-44)
The sin that annoyed Jesus more than any other was the sin of hypocrisy. Jesus wouldn’t often point out people’s sins by name, but he didn’t hesitate to criticize those who said one thing but did another. Jesus did not want charlatans to get away with their lies. The hope is that if people recognize hypocrisy, then this will lead to the valuing of truth.
A story is told about a family consisting of a man and woman and their 12-year-old son. One day the father of the family died. All who knew the family were distressed by the tragedy. The boy was very distraught. He went to the parish priest for comfort. The priest, who was known to be penurious, told the boy he should have a Mass said. “If a Mass is not said for your father, he will never see God face to face” the priest insisted. The boy went home and told his mother what the priest had said. The mother quietly gave the boy ten dollars to have a Mass said.
The boy was still depressed days later, so he went to the priest again. The priest had the same answer. “Have a Mass said so your father will see God face to face.” The boy went to his mother asking for another Mass stipend. The mother refused to pay a second time. She said to her son, “I suppose your father is just going to have to be satisfied at looking at God’s back side and not his face. He won’t mind.”
The widow that we meet in the Gospel today did not have the same mindset as the widow I just described. She had been trained her whole life to give to the temple treasury. Some of this money would go to take care of the poor. Most of the money would be used to support the temple and its priests.
Jesus looked at the woman’s sacrifice with distress. He saw the leaders of the temple walking around in fine clothes. He perceived that they had not inconvenienced themselves in their service of God. Yet, they called on others to give up their monies for the temple.
Hypocrisy is an easy sin to fall into. We can understand this if we consider the fact that there are two types of hypocrisy. The first we are very aware of. The second we have a harder time recognizing. Blatant hypocrisy is a deliberate deception. People let others believe things about us that we know aren’t true. A religious leader might portray themselves as holy and pious, while in private they seldom pray. Perhaps they are very worldly. This is blatant hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, of course can be seen in all kinds of people not just religious people.
The second type of hypocrisy is called value discrepancy. Institutions might fall into this. Many charitable groups like hospitals, educational institutions and churches take time to write mission statements. The statements are often filled with words like fairness, integrity, charity, community, and faith, but as an institution gets caught up in the daily business of serving people, paying bills, fixing buildings, it can betray its mission statement without recognizing it. Individuals who are not served well by the institution recognize the incongruity, but the organization itself might not. A mission statement can be enshrined in bronze on a wall, but never reflected upon.
As individuals there can be the same value discrepancy in our lives. We can say we are Christian with all the ideals that represents, but we can get caught up in worldly cares. We might become worried about maintaining control. Our chief concern might be protecting our own property. We might begin to think that taking care of our family members is all that matters. If we are astute, we step back and examine our conscience every day which can keep us grounded. Too often, however, we can see the incongruities in other peoples lives while being blind to our own hypocrisy.
None of us is ever going to live exactly the way Jesus lived. We will compromise on our values saying we are just trying to be practical. The widow in the gospel wasn’t practical. She was idealistic. Jesus points her out reminding us that she is the model for Christian living that we strive to imitate. He also warns against those who take advantage of idealism.
Reflection Questions:
1. Do I feel that at times I am a hypocrite as I try to lead my Christian life? In what ways am I inconsistent?
2. How can I be true to myself? What do I need to work on?
Dear Parishioners,
I announced last week that we reached the goal that we originally set for our TTT campaign in 2018. Christ the King Parish, Sacred Heart Parish and Seton School had an overall goal of $5,000,000. Each institution has now exceeded its goal. This is a wonderful blessing to all three entities. We worked together and cooperated for the good of the Catholic Community of Moline. Many capital projects have been funded and this will be very important in the immediate future.
Sacred Heart had an ambitious goal of $3,000,000. Of this total, 1.7 million was designated to add a gathering space on our church that would provide handicapped access to our church. With inflation and the supply chain issues because of the pandemic the cost has gone up. We still will need more financing, but with the approval of the diocese, we will begin working on final plans for the addition.
I would take this opportunity to thank the current members of our TTT Campaign Committee; Pete Murray, Sandy Madison, Jim Harl, Fred Julius, Mike Drymiller, Denny Fox, Kevin Rafferty, Connie Morris, Jim Watson, Don Lewis, Dave Wrath and Jerry O’Keeffe. I would also like to thank Pami Triebel, Linda Wolbers and Marcia Harl who provided refreshments at our TTT receptions. Finally, I would like to thank Bobbie Vidmar and Connie Dowsett who have been processing pledges and providing statistics. All of these people have been responsible for the success we have enjoyed so far.
We once again ask for the prayers of St. Damien the Leper who is the patron of our campaign so that we can complete the building process. May Our Lady and all the Angels and saints watch over you all this week.
Fr. Mark