Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Intention: That all people will make each day a time of reconciliation and healing as we rededicate ourselves to the work of building a better world.
Today’s Gospel | Mark 12:41-44
Jesus sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in 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.”
From the First Meditation for the Time of Retreat | Saint John Baptist de La Salle
God wills not only that all come to the knowledge of truth, but also that all be saved. He cannot truly desire this without providing the means for it and, therefore, without giving children the teachers who will assist them in the fulfillment of his plan. This, says Saint Paul, is the field that God cultivates, the building that he is raising, and you are the ones whom he has chosen to help in this work by announcing to these children the Gospel of his Son and the truths that are contained in it.
This is why you must honor your ministry and keep trying to save some of these children. Since God, according to the expression of the same Apostle, has made you his ministers in order to reconcile them to him and has entrusted to you for this purpose the word of reconciliation for them, exhort them, then, as if God were exhorting them through you, for you have been destined to cultivate these young plants by announcing to them the truths of the Gospel, and to procure for them the means of salvation appropriate to their development.
Prayer
Eternal Father, you created us to share in your eternal life. There are times when we forget this and do not keep ourselves awake to your presence. Open our ears to your voice reminding us to seek first your Kingdom in all that we do. Help us to live with true dignity and integrity, and to be persons of faith, community, and service. We ask this of you who lives and reigns with your Son and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.