1 Kings 17:10-16 / Hebrews 9:24-28 / Mark 12:38-44
One of the devices that had developed rapidly with technology is the camera. Modern day cameras are so advanced from the cameras of the past.
In the past, when we talk about camera, we are talking about a device that takes still photographs with film that needs to be developed (or “wash” the film) and then we put the photos in the photo-album.
But nowadays, we take so many photos but they are not in photo-albums anymore, but somewhere in the handphone or computer, and we forget all about them.
And then there are those different species of cameras: action cameras or “go-cams”, car-cams, surveillance cameras, security cameras, and of course the camera in our handphone which can take photos as well as videos.
And these cameras are almost everywhere – in public places, government buildings, places of interest, places of worship. Some are out of requirement, some are out of surveillance.
But no one would install a camera for entertainment. That can be done on the handphone camera and then upload it on Youtube. No need for a high-tech camera for that.
But where there is a camera, or more like a video-cam, we know that we are being watched, and yet we don’t know who is watching us.
And so we will instinctively put on decent behavior. We certainly won’t want to be caught on video doing the wrong or awkward thing for everybody to see on the Internet.
Well, that brings us to another point of reflection, and that is, what would we do if no one is watching or looking at us?
Will we do the good and the right thing, even if no one is watching or looking at us?
In the 1st reading, the widow had the choice to ignore the request of Elijah. It was a time of famine, there was only a handful of meal for herself and her son, and then Elijah had to come along.
Although the widow was obligated to provide for Elijah because of the culture of hospitality, it took more than just generosity to provide for Elijah. It called for sacrifice. No one else was looking. She didn’t have to do it.
But she sacrificed a part of that meagre portion for Elijah. And as it is said: It is through what we give that we live.
That widow gave, that widow made the sacrifice, and in doing so, she and her son lived on, beyond that last meal, just as Elijah had said.
So too did the widow who dropped in the two coins in the Temple treasury. It was all she possessed, all she had to live on, and yet she made that total sacrifice.
No one saw, no one noticed, no one bothered, yes, no one except Jesus. Yes, Jesus saw, and it became a teaching for His disciples, as well as for us.
Jesus taught us that whatever we do, no matter how little or insignificant, or unimportant, will not go unnoticed by God. Yes, God sees, just as Jesus saw and He noticed, and that widow who was not named became an instrument of teaching for us.
It is said that what we do behind someone’s back, we do in front of God. Taken in the negative sense, we know what that obviously means.
But when taken in the light of generosity and sacrifice, then we know that God sees and notices the little and humble acts of goodness that lead others to feel the boundless love of God.
Circulating in the Internet is this news about the memorial service of a Hong Kong actress who died recently. Reading on, we will come to understand that it was a requiem Mass for the late Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam who was 55 years old at the time of her passing.
Yammie Lam, known for her beauty, rose to fame in the late 1980s appearing in TV series and movies. She was well sought after, by producers and directors to be in front of their cameras. She was a big star.
Then in 1998, she was involved in a car accident and hurt her hands and neck. Her health began to falter and she was reportedly also suffering from mental illness and was seeking treatment.
Then in 2006, she was declared a bankrupt and began living on financial aid. Needless to say, the lights and the cameras were not on her anymore.
But in that depressive darkness, someone befriended her, brought her to church, where she found the light of God and was baptized in 2013, in the same church where her funeral Mass was held.
The Vicar General of the Catholic diocese of Hong Kong, Rev. Dominic Chan who celebrated the Mass, said this of Yammie Lam: She suffered a lot. But thanks to her religion and her persistence towards life, we have a big reason to believe that she is now in heaven.
Yes, may God grant eternal rest to Yammie Lam, and not forgetting also the kind and generous people, who are not named, who had helped Yammie Lam find God and find back the hope in life.
Yes, like the two unnamed widows in today’s readings, these unnamed heroes sacrificed their two coins of love to help another fellow human being in need.
They may not ask for credits or to be recognized but we know one thing, God sees, God notices, and God will bless them for their generosity and sacrifices.