On this Sunday Mark offers us two very different gazes of Jesus: first the gaze with which he severely judges the behavior of the scribes, from which we must beware, then the gaze with which he admires the behavior of a poor widow, pointed out as an example. The two texts are united, at least on a more superficial level, by a word ‘hook’: “widow”. The scribes devour the houses of the widows, and a poor widow – precisely because she was devoured by the scribes – is the protagonist of the second scene. Along with this connection, note the contrast between the two paintings and their protagonists: while the scribes are an example not to be followed, the widow is pointed out by Jesus as a model to imitate. In fact, Jesus recognizes in it the prophecy of what he will experience in Jerusalem, when, he too “devoured” by the leaders of the people, will give his whole life, once and for all, as the letter to the Hebrews says, throwing it into the ” treasure “, that is, in the richness of the relationship with the Father which generates the richness of our salvation. Poverty offered without reserve always becomes a treasure of life for all. The widow’s gesture introduces the eschatological discourse, revealing what remains while everything passes. What remains is the gesture of gratuitous love which, like the oil of another widow, that of Sarepta, does not end and does not run out.

Commentary by Comunità di Dumenza

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey