Reading and meditation on the Word of God, Monday of the 34th week of ordinary time, November 25, 2019. Daniel 1, 1-6. 8-20; Luke 21, 1-4. Voice: father Minggus sdb (reading) and father Peter sdb (meditation)
Our meditation today has the theme: A Thousand Rupiah for God. A child asked his father, the reason their family always sits on the 5th bench from the altar, every time they participate the celebration of the holy Mass at the parish church. The child is always sure that his parents will bring the whole family to sit on that bench. They are always there before the Mass begins. Their feet step on the same floor and their heads go straight to the same roof.
After the Mass, the father explained the reason to the child. The reason is because the money of one thousand rupiah. Since he was young and before married, he who was still a teenager was made so impressed by the words of the parish priest at that time. The priest said that each collection, which depends to a great extent on everyone, helped to build their church in the parish. Since then he has never missed giving a thousand rupiah collection every time he attended the holy Mass.
When he already married and has a family, he makes it a habit for his three children to bring one thousand rupiah as their collections at every holy Mass. The family has witnessed directly how the church was renovated until it became as its current shape. The cost of renovating the church, among others, comes from the routine collection of one thousand rupiah of that family and other families.
With this understanding, the father and mother of that family always ensure that their place or position in the church must be real and permanent. They symbolically occupy a special position, in order to remind them being a special part of Church membership. Even though their roles and contributions are insignificant to the Church, they indeed become an integral part of building up the Church as God’s people. They just want to make sure they belong the Church and the Church belongs to them too.
The explanation of the father really makes the child understands and he becomes more active in the life of the Church in the parish. For all of us, one sign we are active and become part of the Church, is because we give our own contributions. The condition for giving a contribution is very simple, that is to give sincerely and with all of one’s heart. Giving such contribution is a very appropriate way to represent ourselves, even though the amount is just one thousand rupiah, but it explains ourselves actually as people who have, those who are ordinary or those the needy ones.
The poor widow’s offering as told in the Gospel of today gives us inspiration to give to God what is right for God and what makes our hearts satisfied and in peace.
Let’s pray. In the name of the Father … O Lord, make ourselves generous and loving as yourself. Hail Mary full of grace … In the name of the Father …