Monday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
(Revelation
14:1-3.4b-5; Luke 21:1-4)
Some people
take today’s first reading literally.
They equate the one hundred, forty-four thousand mentioned with the
exclusive number of the saved in all history.
But surely this number is symbolic.
Not only is it both large and small at the same time – large because it
is too many to count and small because it is a very tiny fraction of all the
souls Jesus came to save. But also it is
a combination of a number denoting fullness (twelve) times itself and
multiplied by a thousand. It signifies the salvation of a huge number of souls.
In that
number the widow of today’s gospel must be included. After all, she like Christ has given all she
has for the glory of God.
We are not
to worry about being included among the elect when we give ourselves for God’s
glory. As Jesus notices the widow
depositing her two bits into the treasury, he will notice our faith in him.
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