Fr Frank Brennan’s Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, 2024

Homily for the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 

10 November 2024

Readings: 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 145; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44

In last week’s gospel, Jesus and an unnamed scribe had a very respectful conversation about the commandments. Jesus was impressed with the scribe’s wisdom and sent him on his way with the reassuring message: ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ Approaching the end of the liturgical year, we are getting close to Jesus’ eschatological discourse in which he predicts that the Temple and all the great buildings of Jerusalem will be pulled down with not a single stone being left on another.

Listen to the full homily on SoundCloud.

Today’s gospel is the last scene prior to that eschatological discourse which concludes with Jesus telling us: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.’ No matter what your politics, no matter what your level interest in the US election, no matter whether you live in Baltimore or Brisbane or Beirut, Kiev, Gaza or New York, you know that we have entered disrupted uncertain times. ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come.’

For the moment, we can be grateful that Mr Trump won the popular vote as well as the Electoral College. That reduces the prospect of violence on the city streets in the US. It increases the prospect that after such a divisive campaign, people will accept the democratic result. And it is a sure sign to all of us, no matter what our political preferences, that the majority of Americans who know Trump well wanted change regardless of his personal shortcomings which are many and well documented.

When put on the spot during the US election campaign about the choice between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Pope Francis said: ‘Both are against life. I cannot decide. I am not American and I will not go to vote there.’ Pressed further he said, ‘In political morality, it is generally said that not voting is wrong, it is not good. One must vote. And one must choose the lesser evil. Which is the lesser evil? That lady or that gentleman? I do not know; each person must think and decide according to his or her own conscience.’[1]

We now know that Catholics were more in favour of Trump than the population generally. According to the exit polls, 56% of Catholic voters opted for Trump and 41% for Harris. In the battleground states a month out from the election, Catholics favoured Trump over Harris by 50 to 45.[2] Once the result was known the president of the US bishops conference issued a statement saying: ‘The Catholic Church is not aligned with any political party, and neither is the bishops’ conference. No matter who occupies the White House or holds the majority on Capitol Hill, the Church’s teachings remain unchanged, and we bishops look forward to working with the people’s elected representatives to advance the common good of all.’[3] Those teachings include teachings on abortion and on immigration – teachings which do not find favour in western democracies at this time.

When asked about Trump’s victory, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, said: ‘I think he has to work above all to be president of the whole country and therefore overcome the polarization that has occurred and is very evident. We also hope he can be a factor for détente and pacification in the current conflicts that are bloodying the world.’[4]

We’ve all had our fill of the political analysis and this is not the place for it. But there is a place in church for reflecting on the underlying issues at play, not just in the US but also here in Australia. David Brooks from the New York Times is one opinion writer whom I trust. The day after the election he wrote:

‘We have entered a new political era. For the past 40 years or so, we lived in the information age. Those of us in the educated class decided, with some justification, that the post-industrial economy would be built by people like ourselves, so we tailored social policies to meet our needs.

‘Our education policy pushed people toward the course we followed — four-year colleges so that they would be qualified for the “jobs of the future.” Meanwhile, vocational training withered. We embraced a free trade policy that moved industrial jobs to low-cost countries overseas so that we could focus our energies on knowledge economy enterprises run by people with advanced degrees. The financial and consulting sector mushroomed while manufacturing employment shriveled.

‘That great sucking sound you heard was the redistribution of respect. People who climbed the academic ladder were feted with accolades, while those who didn’t were rendered invisible.’[5]

That brings us to today’s gospel. Jesus identifies two classes of people outside the Temple. There are the scribes who are educated in the Law, getting about in long robes, being shown respect in the market squares, always taking the places of honour, offering long prayers and devouring the property of widows. These sorts of people voted for Kamala Harris in vast numbers. Then there is the poor widow who comes to the Temple with only two coins.  She could keep one for herself, but no, ‘she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on’. Many like this poor widow knew the moral depravity and self-interest of Donald Trump all too well. But many of the poor, less educated Americans decided they had become worse off and were not being heard by those in the long robes, in the front seats and in the places of honour. They had not only become worse off; they had been rendered invisible.

The US election result and today’s gospel call us to be attentive to those on the margins of social privilege and the good life. On election night, Donald Trump reflecting on the attempted assassination during the campaign brazenly stated: ‘Many people have told me God spared my life for a reason. And that reason was to save our country and to restore America to greatness.’ Each of us is given the gift of life not to further a project of aggressive nationalism, but to give what we have so that others might have a better life here and now and so that all might be shown a way to the kingdom to come.

Praise the Lord, my soul!

It is the Lord who keeps faith for ever,
who is just to those who are oppressed.
It is the Lord who gives bread to the hungry,
the Lord, who sets prisoners free.

Praise the Lord, my soul!

It is the Lord who gives sight to the blind,
who raises up those who are bowed down.
It is the Lord who loves the just,
the Lord, who protects the stranger.

Praise the Lord, my soul!

The Lord upholds the widow and orphan
but thwarts the path of the wicked.
The Lord will reign for ever,
Zion’s God, from age to age.

Praise the Lord, my soul!