32nd Sunday of the Year (B)

(Edited) Sunday Reflections (from) Liturgical Years 2011 (A), 2012 (B), and 2013 (C)

32nd Sunday of the Year (B), November 11, 2012

Liturgical readings

1 Kings 17:10-16
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

"She gave from her want, all that she had to live on."

The first reading and the gospel both speak of widows in their narratives. Despite living in poor conditions, these widows still continued to place their trust and confidence in Yahweh. Elijah (in the first reading) and Jesus (in the gospel) showed to these two widows how God truly cares for these widows - the little ones in the community. Both Elijah and Jesus did not look at the poverty of these widows, but more on the inner strength they have to cultivate faith and trust in God. The faith of the widow in the first reading saved her (and her only son) from hunger and death, while the widow in the gospel earned her much praise and love from Jesus, and the attention of all those in the synagogue who listened to Jesus.

The psalm for this Sunday expresses well how God takes good care of the least of His children:

"The Lord ... secures justice for the oppressed,
gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets captives free ...
The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord raises up those that are bowed down;
The Lord loves the just ...
The fatherless and
the widow He sustains ... (Psalm 146:7ff)

The two example narratives of the widows in the OT and the NT helps all to see that God is the only true hope all people have in their future. Despite the dire situation of the widows, they opened their hearts for God's providential care to enter their lives. Like the widows in the narratives, all are called to be open and to see how the Lord wants to enter into each and everyone of our lives. No need to wait to be in dire straits (like the two widows in the readings), before realizing the value and act of placing one's true hope in God. God calls each of His children every moment. He always calls. Through the Church, God gives each one the means to 'see' how He wants to dwell in every heart (through prayer and the Sacraments and the community of believers). Each one's response is to place one's full trust and confidence in God, and to persevere in faith in one's work and life until His promise of eternal life becomes more real during difficult times.

Memorial of Saints (November 10)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Leo the Great, pope and doctor of the Church
• Andrew Avellino, confessor
• Theocrista, virgin
• Aedh Mac Bricc, bishop
• Justus of Canterbury, bishop

Leo: (died 461 A.D.); eminent pastor and preacher; defender of the Roman primacy; combatted Pelagianism and Manichaeism; his Tome on Christ's two natures was adopted by the Council of Chalcedon 451 A.D.; many of his prayers are found in the Sacramentary; saved Rome from marauding Huns and Vandals.

St. Leo was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope Benedict XIV in 1754 A.D. because of his writings and sermons. Chief among the writings was his Tome, a famous letter he wrote to the Archbishop of Constantinople, Flavian, that expressed the Christian doctrine that Christ had two natures in one person: the human and the divine. Aside from the Tome, St. Leo produced also one hundred forty-three letters. It was his sermons that the Church prizes so much that it included them in the Office of Readings for such main feasts as Christmas and Epiphany. Five sermons of Leo on the Beatitudes are also included in the Office of Readings. A total of twenty-six of his sermons are thus excerpted in the Office of Readings - the same number as that of St. Ambrose's, and second only to St. Augustine's eighty-two sermons. Learn more

Memorial of Saints (November 9)

Feasts, Obligatory and Optional Memorials of Saints

• Dedication of St. John Lateran
• Theodore Tiro
• Benignus or Benen, bishop
• Vitonus or Vanne, bishop

The Dedication of St. John Basilica, or St. John Lateran in Rome is to honor this basilica built by Emperor Constantine and consecrated by Pope Sylvester in 324 A.D. It is the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Rome and dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, St. John the Baptist and to the Most Holy Savior. From the 4th to the 14th century A.D. it was the official seat of the Popes. St. John Lateran is called the "mother and head of all churches in Rome and the world."

St. Theodore Tiro (d. ca. 360 A.D.) was a recruit, a "tiro", in the Roman army at Pontus on the Black Sea. He was brought before the governor because he refused to participate in the pagan rites of his comrades. He was then set free temporarily but he took the opportunity to put in flames the pagan temple of Cybele. He was again brought before the judges and tortured. After the examination, he was condemned to death. After being burned to death in a furnace his cult became popular in the East and he became known as one of the best "warrior saints".