32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2021 - The sacrifices of widows and soldiers

 On November 11, 1919, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed an Armistice Day to be observed annually, to honor the armistice ending World War I—with major hostilities formally ending at the 11th hour of the 11th day of  the 11th month of 1918.  After WWII, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed into law, that November 11 would be a day to honor all veterans, and so our country celebrates Veterans Day, which will be observed this week. 

My father, uncles, and godfather are veterans of Vietnam. Both my grandfathers were proud veterans of World War II, and my great grandfather was honored as the oldest veteran of world war I in his hometown when he died.  

Providence would have it that November 11 is also the liturgical feast day of a veteran, one of our Church’s well known and beloved soldier Saints, Saint Martin of Tours, who is patron Saint of soldiers along with St. Michael, St. George, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Joan of Arc.  

St. Martin of Tours was the son of a veteran, a soldier and officer in the Roman army. Martin was actually forced to serve in the army against his will at the age of 15. But, while serving in the army, he came to understand sacrifice, honor, loyalty as many soldier do. It was as a young soldier that Martin was exposed to Christianity—newly legalized after 300 years of persecution. Soon Martin began to desire baptism and was enrolled as a catechumen.

There is the famous story when on a bitterly cold day, the young soldier met a poor man, almost naked, trembling in the cold and begging at the city gate.  Martin had nothing but his weapons and his clothes.  So he drew his sword, cut his cloak into two pieces, and gave one piece to the beggar.  Some of the bystanders laughed at Martin’s foolish act of charity. But that night Martin had a vision of Jesus dressed in the cloak he had given to the beggar. The Lord said, “Martin, still a catechumen, has covered me with his garment.”

That which you did for the of my brethren you did for me. Martin, in sacrificing his cloak for a beggar, clothed Jesus. This beautiful scene is depicted in a stained glass window here at St. Ignatius in the east trancept. 

Martin’s act of charity toward that beggar, sacrificing the little he had to offer, was no doubt inspired by today’s Gospel, in which the poor widow gives, not from her surplus, but her livelihood. 

Remember, that widows had no inheritance rights in ancient Israel. They had to rely on their children, male relatives, or the charity of the community for survival. You could definitely say they had a fixed income. 

So, on this very fixed income, this widow makes pilgrimage to the Temple to worship her God. And in an act of love and devotion she takes two coins, representing a serious portion of her livelihood, and deposited them in the temple coffers to honor God and to provide charity for those who may have been worse off than she. Jesus notices this and praises her sacrifice, holding her up as a model for his disciples.

To most people, the scribes, the chief elders, the pharisees, and King Herod, these were the real pillars of the community. But, Jesus points out that the truly holy—those who are worthy of praise and emulation—are those who are beautiful and wealthy not on the outside, but on the inside.

Those truly worthy of praise are those whose generosity flows from their love of God, not the desire to be noticed by others. How often does Jesus condemns the scribes and pharisees for making a show of faith on the outside, while being far from God on the inside. He condemns them for the grievous corruption of what religious faith is supposed to be—not outward show, but inner union with the heart of God. 

The widow, the saints, like St. Martin, so many of our veterans who leave family and country to serve freedom, show us what the heart of God looks like: Self-sacrifice, trust in God, boundless generosity, willingness to mocked for charity’s sake, like Martin was mocked by his fellow soldiers, like the widow would have been mocked by her countrymen.

While visiting Cuba a few years ago, Pope Francis spoke of how the spirit of the world differs from the Spirit of Christ. He said, “The spirit of the world does not love the way of the Son of God, who emptied himself and became poor. He became nothing — he humiliated himself in order to be one of us.”  The world mocks the way of Christ. Self-sacrifice, faith, trust, these characteristics are not valued by modern society.

But the way that leads to life is the way of Christ—of self-emptying generosity. The saints who we began the month celebrating on All Saints day, over and over give us these powerful beautiful models of what holiness looks like. That when we give ourselves away like Christ we become rich in the things of God. 

So, please, sometime today or this week: think back to the example of the widow. How is God calling you to that sort of trust and generosity? On Thursday, think of the veterans, think of St. Martin, how are you called to give part of your cloak to the poor, in service of country, and church. 

On the day of our judgment, those things, those earthly treasures, the time we gave to God, will testify on our behalf. So may we be deeply and profoundly generous with God, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.