Por Fr. Ed Liptak, SDB

In a prophetic vision during a time of drought, Elijah was bidden by God to leave Israel and seek food from a widow north of the border in Sidon. God had influenced her to help in this matter of life and death. By her recognition of Elijah as a man of God, Elijah’s life was spared for a whole year, and so were the lives of the widow and her only child. As the psalm immediately following says, “Praise the Lord, my soul! The fatherless and the widow he sustains, The Lord shall reign forever.” Almighty is the Lord. Immortal, source of life is He.

Hebrews brings this understanding of who God is into the times of Christ, who has entered the temple of heaven with God, where He intercedes for us. His sacrifice was once and forever, for He is eternal.  “Now, once for all, He has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.” Such is Jesus, the Lord, whose sacrifice by which sin and death are conquered places Him one with His Father, almighty, in authority over sin and death. He and we, too, face death only once, but He will come again “to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.” We are able to face death more bravely the more we believe in Christ.

These passages prompt us to come cooly face to face with the reality of death. Our passage from Mark’s Gospel also helps. Jesus had arrived for the last time in Jerusalem. Chapters 12 and 13 are a collection of efforts to entrap Him as He taught. With clear foresight, He used the parable of the owner of a vineyard (God), who sent his Son to collect what was rightfully His. One verse (12:8) describes what happened. “So, they seized him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.“

Before today’s reading, facing the Scribes, Jesus used Psalm 110 to claim divine origin. In the Psalm, David called Him Master and asserted that before the dawn of time, He was begotten by God. This Messianic claim ‘delighted many‘ in the crowd. Others disbelieved. Jesus then denounced those who were planning to Kill him, pointing out their cruelty against widows and the poor. Jesus pronounced against them, “They will receive a very severe condemnation.” Finally, citing the ‘widow’s mite,’ Jesus invited us to give our all in service to the Lord. “Christ, by His death, gave us life!“

Fr. Ed Liptak, SDB, is in residence at Corpus Christi Church in San Francisco and is a contributing writer for InTouch.