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| Here Rests in Honored Glory an American Soldier Known but to God |
This
Sunday is Veterans Day. One hundred years ago, at the 11th
hour on the 11th
day of the 11th
month, the first World War ended. Irving Berlin, a Russian immigrant,
became a U.S. citizen that year and composed the great hymn/prayer
God Bless America in 1918.
Today
we honor all of our Veterans for their service and sacrifice.
The
word of God today coincidentally challenges us to trust God and to be
generous. A
non-Jew or so-called Gentile is down to her last handful of flour and
a tiny bit of oil. Then Elijah asks for a bit of bread. Elijah asks
her: trust in God. The woman has a dilemma. Trust and hospitality
win; the widow gives all she has to Elijah. And miraculously, she has
a never-ending supply. That truly was a great act of faith in God's providence.
In
the Gospel, we hear of a widow who put her last two coins, a small
sum, into the Temple treasury. Jesus comments that, in contrast to
those who gave from their surplus, she gave “all she had to live
on.” A great act of faith in God's providence.
The
author of Hebrews speaks about the superiority of Jesus’s sacrifice
to the many sacrifices in the Temple. Jesus through his death and
resurrection opens up to humankind eternal life.
I
remembered a newspaper photographer sharing a scene after a
devastating earthquake. A long line of people waited for food.
Finally, only one banana was left. A girl divided it into three parts
for three other children, and she licked the inside of that banana
peel. “In that moment I swear I saw the face of God!” wrote the
photographer.
Yes,
the word of God challenges us to ask ourselves: do we reveal the face
of God to one another? As
missionary disciples of Jesus, we ought to show the face of God every
day, especially living the beatitudes that Matthew sums up so
splendidly in Chapter 5 of his Gospel. I would like to think Jesus
would say this about us.
If
you’re working to pay the bills but making time to be with your
children, blessed are you. You may never own a big vacation home, but
heaven will be yours.
If
you happily give your time to serve, and befriend the unpopular, the
lost, blessed are you. Count God among your friends.
If
you are overwhelmed caring for an ill relative, blessed are you. One
day your sorrow will be transformed into joy.
If
you refuse to compromise your integrity and ethics, refuse to
rationalize that “everyone does it,” blessed are you – you will
triumph.
If
you try to understand others and make things work for the good, if
you listen and console, if you manage to heal wounds and build
bridges; if you can see the good in everyone and seek the good for
everyone: rejoice and be glad. Jesus says you are the blessed of God.
In the end, heaven is yours.
