Last night Father Mariani and I were reading through the
beautiful cards that our Faith Formation students, and many of you, had made
for us for Priest Appreciation Sunday a few weeks ago. The cards are simple and
beautiful. Some have drawings. Some even have stickers, and most of them have a
brief message written in them. My favorite of the messages goes like this: “Father
Benjamin, I rarely feel the urge to fall asleep when you are preaching.” I
appreciate the honesty of this child; but more than that I appreciate the simple
gift of those simple cards because they represent something much greater.
It seems to be that way for many of us: we treasure those
very simple gifts which mean so very much. These are the cards we keep in a box
that we pull out and read when it’s a rainy day outside, or more often a rainy
day inside. These are the phone messages we keep and listen to again, the
emails we do not delete, the invitations for events long past that we do not
throw away. These are the pictures so precious that we actually print them out.
These are the simple gifts that mean so very much. These are the simple gifts
whose meaning might go unnoticed by someone else, but are treasures in our sight.
Like a cup of water and a simple crust of bread, these would
go unnoticed at the tables in the banquets of the city officials in Zarepheth.
The simple meal would have gone unnoticed. But to the prophet Elijah, this was
the food of life. This was the gift of the widow who had no more than a cup of
water and a small batch of flour and a little bit of oil. This was all she had
for herself and for her son. These were the only ingredients of the last meal
that they would ever eat. And she gave them to Elijah. She gave them to the one
who spoke the Word of the Lord and promised his promise for the future. This
simple meal that would go unnoticed by others is a treasure in the eyes of the
prophet of the Lord.
Like two small coins in the treasury of the Temple: these
would go unnoticed by the dedicated volunteers who gathered each week to count
the collection. These two small coins would have been unnoticed. But Jesus
noticed. The Lord Jesus saw the two small coins placed from the frail hand of
the poor widow into the temple treasury. The Lord Jesus noticed. He knew how
much those two small coins meant in the life of the widow. He knew that she was
giving everything from a generosity that comes only from faith in the Lord and
hope in his promise. The Lord Jesus noticed the offering that would be
overlooked by everyone else but is a treasure in his sight.
Like my words and yours, like my time and yours, like my life
and yours, what might very well go unnoticed by the rich and the powerful of
the world is a treasure in the eyes of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Preached at Our Lady of Lourdes
Catholic Church, Monroe, NC
