Daily Readings: Is. 19:1-11; Gal. 2:1-10; Mk. 12:35-44
Ընթերցուածքներ` Եսայ. ԺԹ 1-11; Գաղ. Բ 1-10; Մկ. ԺԲ 35-44
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, Amen!
There were two men who had decided to change their lives. One of them had decided he needed to strengthen his spirit. He fasted, eating nothing but a handful of dried lentils and stale bread. He spent days praying, hours reading over Scripture and attending long hourly services in Church. He avoided spending time with people, only traveling to work, Church and home. Though he invested all this time to strengthen his faith, yet, his mind was like a constant chaotic storm of pride, and exhaustion. He struggled with temptation; often looked around at others and saw them as weaker and lesser. On the other hand, the other man decided he would spend his days strengthening his mind and body. He kept a strict diet, exercised, journaled, and overall felt physically stronger. Yet, his heart was troubled. He kept failing at his relationships, his mind kept wandering and though he spent time with friends and colleagues, he always felt alone and misunderstood. Both men with completely different priorities yet, almost the same difficulties and challenges.
In the Gospel today, as Christ is teaching in the temple, we read of a large crowd having gathered to hear Him. “He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny.” We all know this story very well, of how what the widow gave was worth more than that which the wealthy gave because she gave all rather than out of her abundance. My dears, while most of us are not widows, and perhaps some of us would say we truly try to give God all we have, yet, what does God want from us? Is it our 2 coins? Perhaps it is our time, energy or appreciation? After all Divine Liturgy, the Badarak is also called the Eucharist, or prayer of Thanksgiving. The trouble is many of us focus on the things the widow gave, the 2 coins. Yet, Christ gives us the example of a widow, therefore, to understand today’s story in the Gospel of Mark, we need to first also understand who the widow is.
We would define a widow, as a woman who has lost her husband due to death. In the same way, a widower is the male equivalent. Yet, there is more than just the loss of a spouse, it is deeper than that. To be a widow or widower is to lose someone we love, someone we have come into a sacred union with, built a life around. As the Scriptures say, “husband and wife, two shall become one.” Therefore, the word widow(er), is loss of someone deeper. It is to be deprived of someone’s deep love and value. In fact, the Greek word χήρα (pronounced chēra or chíra), is rooted in someone who is being deprived, someone who is deficient or being left behind. Even the Armenian word, այրի (pronounced ay-ri), is rooted in the word for “empty,” “abandoned,” or “desolate”. And a widow in the time of Christ was someone like this; they had no voice, no rights, no real value. They were often abandoned, desolate, and left behind.
My dears, when we understand this, we recognize that though only some of us have lost a spouse in this life, yet, in some way all of us are the widow in today’s story. We have all felt loss, isolation, separation and deprivation. We have felt left behind, abandoned and empty. My dears, who among us has not felt this way in life? And what she gives is not merely all her money, but the Church Father says, she gives who she is. The two coins represent the body and the spirit. So often we strive to strengthen one or the other and yet, we fail to give importance to one or the other. We might eat well, exercise and so forth but deprive our spiritual health. Or we might fast and pray, come to Church, read our Bibles, but deprive our physical, emotional and mental needs. My dears, when Christ says, the widow gave not out of her abundance, but she gave out of her poverty, it is poverty based on the world. The world who says often we have no value, no statues, no purpose based on its arbitrary definitions; 2 tiny, worthless coins that would be better left behind. Yet, when we say God desires all of us, it isn’t merely long-winded prayers, nor is it our physical presence in the Church. Rather, God calls us as a whole person to be in Communion with Him. God wants those 2 worthless coins. God wants what others reject and say is worth nothing. To God it is, you are worth everything; God does not abandon us.
Ancient writers often said that “The soul is the flame, but the body is the lamp. If you do not pour oil into the lamp, the flame goes out. If you smash the clay vessel and do not take care of the physical, the oil spills, and the light is lost forever.” In other words, my dears, just like the two men in the story, we need to ask where have we chosen to put our focus in? What are we holding back from God thinking that other aspects are far more important? St. Paul repeatedly reminds us that we are not merely followers of the law, meaning the physical but we are saved by the Grace of our Lord. In the same way, St. Paul also reminds us that our faithfulness must be fruitful. But this can only happen my dears, when we fully come into communion with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, in physical and spiritual. That is why we read in 1 Thess. 5:23 “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Therefore, pray, repent, fast, come to confession, receive the sacraments with an earnest desire to be healed. Read the Holy Scriptures and writings of the Fathers; attend Divine Liturgy giving thanks to God. And doing so also exercise our mind, meditate on His Word, go for walks in nature, sit peacefully, lift heavy weights, be cautious of what we eat and drink and the company we keep, the way we dress, speak and behave. “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31) God gave us our soul; God gave us our body. Christ Jesus died on the Cross and was resurrected in save us completely. No matter what we’ve lost, no matter where the people say our value and importance is, no matter how empty we feel, God desires each one of us completely. When we give ourselves to our Lord, we too shall be lifted up out of loss and deprivation. We as one shall glorify our Heavenly Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, in body and soul, Amen!
