Mk 12:38-44 Two Cents
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A poor widow came and put two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
When something is very precious we say it is of great value. When we say something weighs a ton we mean to say it has tremendous weight. But for God, something “of great value” or “of tremendous weight” can actually refer to two small coins.
I have no sense of direction. I always get lost. Thank God for GPS! Believe me. Some people are really bad at remembering directions. I am horrible! I not only get lost getting to someone’s house, I get lost leaving their house. I am doomed if I don’t pay attention to where I am going and damned if I do! I get lost everywhere, even in parking lots. One day I was convinced that someone had stolen my car. I was absolutely convinced of it. But before I called the police, I decided to press the panic button on my keychain. Although my internal GPS might not be good, my hearing is. Over time I learned a trick: to do the opposite of what I am thinking. When I think I need to turn right, I will turn left. When I am convinced I need to go north, I will go south. If I do the opposite of what I think, I typically end up on the right side of the neighborhood.
Since the world thinks its standing right side up, I need to think upside down. When the world thinks its heading in the right direction, I know it’s heading in the wrong direction.
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets.”
Wow! That’s me. That’s my natural idea of success. Maybe it’s yours too. Every day I yank out my internal yard stick and measure how I’m doing. Let’s see…how many dinner invitations did I get this week? How many people recognized me at the Pancake House this week? How many people congratulated me after Mass? Let’s see how I’m doing on the road to success! Did I hear the roar of the crowd today? Was it more or less than yesterday?
What does the Lord have to say about this? BEWARE!
What do you consider to be success? What’s your internal yard stick measure? Is it the number of glances or winks you got in a single day? Or the number of people who came up to you and said, “You look so beautiful!” Do you keep track of how many dates you went on? Or how many friends called you this weekend? Do you keep count on the number of friends you have on Facebook or the number of high school or college graduation parties you were invited to? Is it the number of pounds you lost? We all know your list is long so keep going…
St . Paul tells his young disciples, Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching…“Be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry…I am already being poured out like a libation, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance.” (2Tim 4:1-8)
Wow! Do I think like this? Do I even pretend to live like this?
The key understanding St. Paul is to understand Jesus Christ. What does the Lord consider to be success? What’s important to Him and how does He measure it? The answer is found in the greatest commandment: Love God and your neighbor as yourself. How does the Lord measure this Love? Not in inches or in pounds but in sacrifices.
Let’s start measuring ourselves according to Christ’s specifications. In this way, two cents will be much more than its weight in gold!
LOL! Hehe....I couldn't help but giggle while reading this post. Both my mother and sister are very directions handicapped. I don't know how many times I've heard stories of one of them getting terribly lost. Just the other day my mom got lost driving over to my house here in the "cuntry.." I'm totally opposite: I've been blessed with very good navigation skills. I very rarely get lost. Thank the Lord!
ReplyDeleteI see a deep seated pride & vanity flourishing as I measure my own success via the internal yard stick. It's fun to dress up a little "prettier" than normal to see how many guys notice with the eye glance thing. It's fun to go to a charity wine event and pretend for an evening that I'm one of the wealthy. I usually can pull it off quite well. Just dress up with the "wow" factor, talk about what I do for a living, where I went to college, or what areas of the world I've traveled to. I may not be as successful as the doctors and lawyers but I manage to keep conversation flowing. Measurements of success can be quite "faked" and superficial in so many ways.
I have to keep in mind that materialism is not necessarily a measure of success and doesn't ensure happiness. I shouldn't compare myself to the uber wealthy or become terribly jealous when they are able to better "provide" for our clergy than the rest of us "commoners". (I know, that sounds tacky. Just being honest. Please, no bashing here...) I need to let go of this measuring up to others and be happy with the blessing God has given me, even if I'm not rich.
I feel embarrassed that I am not able to put more money into the collection plate. I always wished I was a millionairess, and I could pay off the entire St. Joseph building debt and contribute to the St. Monica renovations. Unfortunately like most of us I live as best as I can and try to give as much as I am able. It's consoling to know that Our Lord measures us on a different grading scale! If I can be more humble, more giving, more loving and less preoccupied with how successful I am what a great weight of burden could be released from my shoulders. When I do put in that little $$ I have out of my paycheck, I can feel good that I'm giving back to the Church and to my community.
Blessings,
-Jennifer
"I have no sense of direction. I always get lost. Thank God for GPS! Believe me. Some people are really bad at remembering directions. I am horrible! I not only get lost getting to someone’s house, I get lost leaving their house. I am doomed if I don’t pay attention to where I am going and damned if I do! I get lost everywhere, even in parking lots. One day I was convinced that someone had stolen my car. I was absolutely convinced of it. But before I called the police, I decided to press the panic button on my keychain. Although my internal GPS might not be good, my hearing is. Over time I learned a trick: to do the opposite of what I am thinking. When I think I need to turn right, I will turn left. When I am convinced I need to go north, I will go south. If I do the opposite of what I think, I typically end up on the right side of the neighborhood."
ReplyDeleteI am laughing my butt off. Every single word you just said is EXACTLY me from getting lost leaving to knowing that whichever way feels like the right way to turn is the exact opposite. I have lost my car in a parking garage and had the security drive me around looking for it, to find it on a different level! Or the time I drove my husband's car parked right by the door in that same parking garage and couldn't find my car, I walked around the whole garage in high heels and finally got security again and then it was right there in front of the door I had come out of.
And it is very embarrassing when you end up going back to the house you left 30 minutes before because you've been driving around in their neighborhood that whole time trying to find your way out. And it's really bad when they've turned the lights out already!
One more thing, I don't trust the GPS. I actually have the one that came on my car, the one on my phone and the one I plug in and I don't trust any of them. They have gotten me lost many times! So basically I have to make sure I have a full tank of gas at all times!!!
It is always nice to know we are not alone in ALL of our struggles, no matter how minor or major they are.
Benedicamus Deus!
OK, I've got you all beat w/stories about directions. One of my friends admits that she is the only person that she knows who got fired from Meals on Wheels!!! She would get lost going to the same house, so she would arrive late, the food would be cold and the "victim" would complain. She now has a GPS, but she was too embarrassed to ask for her job back!
ReplyDeleteThat is pretty funny.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Father will never get fired for being late...........I mean getting lost. LOL!!
Really, I will pray for you Father. It must be really difficult to be a man and not have any sense of direction. But I guess asking for directions, if you had to, could be a practice in the virtue of humility.mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I think you can actually put that disability on your driver's license and get out of speeding tickets because you have to make up for 'lost' time.
These comments have been on the 'light' side today, but I truly needed a day of no intense thinking or contemplating. My brain was getting a cramp.
Thanks for the laughs today.
BD