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THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION Sunday Bulletin Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost – 8th November 2009
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Giving all
Widows are mentioned a lot in the bible. The reason for this is that without any organised social security, the widow was particularly vulnerable through not being able to earn a living and so needed assistance from others to survive. The Old Testament has rules for the Israelites to follow in the law to ensure that the widows were looked after. When this was not the case, we hear that the LORD God was displeased, even angry, as his statutes and ordinances were not being followed and a sector of the community were under undue stress for not being properly cared for.
In both the Old Testament and the Gospel readings today we see a widow, each of whom were poor through their lack of possessions. The widow that Elijah asked to provide for him, following the command of the LORD, had very little food, barely enough to survive for the rest of the day. What an imposition it must have been to have another mouth to feed. Yet she obeyed the will of the LORD. There is a certain poignancy in the story as it is told and one can feel the anguish and pressure on the poor woman. Yet, through her obedience and giving her all to the will of the LORD, through Elijah, her future was secured. She did not want after the incident, and her jar of meal and bottle of oil never ran out. What a blessing.
In the Gospel Jesus points out a widow who was giving nearly all she had to the temple. She was giving her all, even if the total was not like that of others who gave out of their abundance. By giving her all she was blessed and made worthy through Jesus seeing her and explaining her situation to the disciples. Both widows had faith that God would provide and both were rewarded for their faith.
Fr Clive
Sentence
Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6.38
Prayer of the day
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of evil and make us your children and heirs of eternal life: grant that, having this hope,
we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
First Reading: 1 Kings 17:8-16
Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” So he set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.” As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.” She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
For the word of the Lord; thanks be to God.
Psalm 146
1 Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul:
while I live I will praise the Lord;
2 While I have any being:
I will sing praises to my God.
3 Put not your trust in princes:
nor in flesh and blood, which cannot save.
4 For when their breath goes from them, they return again to the earth:
and on that day all their thoughts perish.
5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob:
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 The God who made heaven and earth:
the sea, and all that is in them,
7 Who keeps faith for ever:
who deals justice to those that are oppressed.
8 The Lord gives food to the hungry:
and sets the captives free.
9 The Lord gives sight to the blind:
the Lord lifts up those that are bowed down.
10 The Lord loves the righteous:
the Lord cares for the stranger in the land.
11 He upholds the widow and the fatherless:
as for the way of the wicked, he turns it upside down.
12 The Lord shall be king for ever:
your God, O Zion, shall reign through all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Second Reading: Hebrews 9:23-28
Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
For the word of the Lord; thanks be to God.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to Mark 12:38-44
Glory to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
As he taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honour at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”
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. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Readings Next Sunday, Twenty Fourth after Pentecost, (G), 15 Nov 2009.
Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Heb 10:11-14, 19-25; Mark 13:1-13
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