32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time 2024

 

Recently, I had dinner with my friend, Richard, who loves backcountry skiing. His favorite spot is a mountain in the Adirondacks, and he was explaining to me that night that he and his skier friends spend long hours in the fall clearing trails there. 

As Richard was talking, I could hear the pride and passion in his voice—but also a bit of frustration. 

The mountain has become popular with other skiers in the area, and while that’s wonderful, it means these other skiers benefit from the hard work that he and his friends put in each year to make the trails safe and clear. 

The trails take hours of dedicated effort to prepare, but most people skiing down those slopes may never realize how much work goes into creating that smooth path for them.

Listening to Richard, I thought about how often we, too, benefit from the sacrifices others have made, often without our even noticing. 

And then I thought of today’s Gospel, where Jesus sees a widow quietly making her offering in the Temple. While others give large sums, she places just two small coins into the treasury—an offering so small it could have gone unnoticed. 

Yet Jesus stops everything to draw attention to her, because He knows that she’s giving all she has, and He values that more than anything. 

Her offering, humble as it appears, is an act of love and sacrifice, the same kind of sacrifice that makes the world a better place.

The widow’s offering is like those trails my friend clears: unseen by most, but crucial for others to enjoy and benefit from. 

Just as the skiers don’t see the hands that prepared the way, we sometimes miss the quiet sacrifices that others make on our behalf. 

But Jesus sees. He sees every small act of love, every hidden moment of generosity, and every sacrifice given from the heart.

And what greater path has been cleared for us than the one Christ made through His own sacrifice on the Cross? 

Just as we benefit from the hard work and sacrifices of others in our lives, the Cross is the ultimate trail that Jesus cleared—a path of grace, paved with His love and His life, for each of us to follow.

Think for a moment about the work that goes into clearing a mountain trail. It’s physical labor, sometimes in difficult conditions. There’s debris to remove, obstacles to overcome, and it’s tiring. 

In much the same way, Christ’s journey to the Cross was a labor of love. He endured suffering, humiliation, and even death itself, all so that we might walk a path to eternal life. 

He took on our sins, bore the weight of our burdens, and left us a clear way to follow—a way rooted in mercy and love.

And so, what do we do with this gift? What do we do with the sacrifices of others—the sacrifices of Christ, of family, friends, and countless others who have given of themselves for our good? 

Today’s Gospel offers us a model in the widow, whose humble offering shows us the value of giving from the heart. She didn’t give out of her abundance but out of her need. She didn’t give what was left over; she gave all she had. 

And that’s what makes her sacrifice so precious in Jesus’ eyes.

In our own lives, we can follow her example by being generous—not just in material ways, but in how we give our time, our patience, our forgiveness, and our love. 

Maybe that means being there for someone who needs support or offering our time to those who feel lonely or left out. 

Maybe it means forgiving someone who has hurt us or being patient with someone who tests our limits. 

Each of these small sacrifices clears a path for others, just as Christ cleared the path for us.

We might think these small acts go unnoticed, but they don’t. God sees them. Jesus noticed the widow’s two small coins; He notices the quiet sacrifices we make, even if the world doesn’t. 

And just as others benefit from the work we put into these acts of love, we find that our lives become richer and more fulfilling. We become the hands and feet of Christ in the world, helping to make God’s kingdom more present here and now.

So, inspired by the widow’s generosity, by Richard’s dedication, and most of all, by Christ’s great sacrifice, let us be willing to give of ourselves, even when it’s hard, knowing that these acts of love pave the way for others to find hope, joy, and love in their journey.

And as we continue on our path, let’s remember: every trail we clear, every sacrifice we make, becomes part of a much greater path—one that leads us, and those who follow, closer to God.