Today's readings focus mainly on two widows who, precisely because of their condition, have to reset their lives and totally entrust themselves to divine providence.
Widows are the lowest members of society in terms of wealth
and ability. One such widow comes to the church and put her mite. “This poor
widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury”, writes
the evangelist Mark, “for they all contributed out of their abundance; but she
out of her poverty has put in everything she had, her whole living.” Very often
many of us offer God what is not indispensable to us; therefore, we wonder what
prompted this woman to do the opposite. So, does one have to offer money to
please God? No, NEVER!!
On the contrary, when we put our wealth to the church, we
are mainly proclaiming two things, knowingly or unknowingly.
(1) Money is not my God. We know that a few moments are
enough for money to become God before any human being. In the last week the
gospel reminded that we must have no other god but the Lord God. So, when we contribute,
we actually proclaim that wealth is not our God on whom we depend.
(2) Complete trusts in God. Wealth is indispensable for us
to live in this world. When we give it to God, we are leaving the rest of our
lives in God's care and protection. Subsequently our reliance is shifting from
creation to creator.
That is why God does not look at the quantity of our
contribution but quality. Although the rich are investing more money than the
widow, the contribution of this widow is qualitatively much greater than
theirs, because she gave all that she had and dedicated rest of her life to the
providence of God.
At the same time in the first reading, we find another
widow, who shows us the fullness of her faith in the Lord's providence. The
mystery behind this episode (1 Kings 17: 10-16) is quite interesting. When we
find out, we will forget ourselves and praise God, because it is an
anticipation of His future plan. Let's try to understand it carefully.
In the ninth century B.C., King Ahab was unfaithful to the
Lord and worshiped Baal and built temples for Baal and consecrated Asherah
deities. Therefore, the Lord does not send rain or snow. It was drought and
then the prophet Elijah went to the widow of Zarephath at the direction of the
Lord. When Elijah arrived at the city gate, he saw a woman collecting firewood.
Firewood is a symbol. Symbol of preparation for a sacrifice. Elijah first asks
her if she could give him drink. When she goes to fetch water, Elijah makes the
next request: “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” It is easy for us to
give something from the abundant, but how can we give when we have a little? So,
her reply was: “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a
handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering
a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that
we may eat it, and die.” But Elijah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you
have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and
afterward make for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord the God of
Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not
fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.”
In a sense, it seems to be the most insensitive event in the
Bible. But in reality, it is a test of faith. Will she fear that God will not
provide enough food for her and her family, or will she believe that God will
take care of her family through the prophet even if she gives her last meal?
That is the trial. But she wins it by believing the words of Elijah and gave
him to eat from her last meal.
So the word of God: "Man lives not by bread alone, but
by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" literally becomes
synonymous with this widow. Look at the depth of this widow's faith: she
believed God's prophet, believed his word, and thereby believed in God's providence.
That has become a source of blessing to her. At the end we read, "As the
Lord has said, the dough in the jar is not finished, nor the oil in the
jar."
This week's message is to trust in the Lord's providence and
believe in His word. So, offertory seems to me as something that really tests
our faith.
At the same time, this event was a prefiguration for another
reality. Bread and oil are symbols - symbols of a never-ending sacramental realities.
In the new covenant we receive the sacrament of Eucharist, which is made from a
handful of flour, offered before a Last Supper, and will last until the end of
the world. The oil stands for the holy oils in the sacraments of baptism,
confirmation, sacrament of ordination and the anointing of the sick. All of
those oils flow from the passion of Christ. Yes, the anointing oil flows from
the offering of Jesus who was crushed in the oil-mill of every torture which
was begun in the Garden of Gethsemane, in Hebrew means “oil-press” and finishes
on the top of Calvary. And that sacramental oil, which heals us, gives us life,
brings the priesthood and which conforms us to Christ through baptism and confirmation
are, in a sense, very abundant; They are never going to run out. They’re
constantly being renewed in the Church every year at the Chrism mass, which is
celebrated on the day in which we commemorate the last supper of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
So, it can be said that what happened in Zarephath was a
prophetic event of the infinite abundance of the sacramental life of the
Church. Just as Elijah gave the widow natural life with the oil and bread of
the Old Testament, today Christ gives supernatural life to his bride, the Church
through a never-ending bread of the Eucharist and the sacramental oil. We need
not fear that the bread and oil that Jesus gives will run out until the new
heavens and the earth come, just as old bread and oil did not run out until it
rains.
Dear friends, here we can see a God who truly shows himself
what each of us should do. That is, a God who was willing to sacrifice even his
only begotten Son for us. Just as the widow obeyed the words of Elijah, so the
Son of God obeyed the words of God the Father. Through that we have received
everlasting grace.
When I understood God in this way, I unknowingly said in my
heart, as the psalmist says: “Happy the people to whom such blessings fall! Happy
the people whose God is the Lord!” (Ps 144:15). Yes. Surely, we are blessed to
know and worship this God.
Why, then, can we still not blindly believe Him? Why Can't we still believe His promises?
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