The Widow's Gift

~~~ Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time ~~~

~~~ 1 Kings 17:10-16 ~~~ Psalm 146 ~~~ Hebrews 9: 24-28 ~~~ Mark12:38-44 ~~~

 

The first reading and the Gospel from Mark use the example of a widow.

In Biblical times a widow within the Jewish community had no status. Without her husband she had literally no one to take care of her. She was left to fend for herself which often ended in poverty.

 

In the first reading we have the desperate widow who barely has enough food to feed both herself and her young son.

 

"...there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug."

 

She is resigned herself to the fact that she and her son are in fact doomed.

They are facing imminent death from starvation.

She is scraping together what little she has left to provide for her son.

 

You can imagine how torn she must have been when the prophet, Elijah, asks her to share her last bit of food with him.

Giving water to Elijah was was enough...just go to the source scoop up a cupful and bring it to him. But he asks for more; he wanted some bread as well.

 

Certainly it would not have been unreasonable for her to have ignored his request.

Somehow Elijah's words dispel her fears and she decides to honor his request for some bread. In reality what did she have to lose? She was going to die soon from lack of food. Elijah goes on promising her that neither the flour jar or the oil jar would go empty.

Here she takes a huge leap of faith and puts her trust in his words.

As we know she has the grace to make the right decision and God blessed her with abundance. For the next year the flour and the oil remained constant.

 

God had indeed kept his promise foretold to Elijah.

Some may have accused the widow of acting in a foolish manner,

especially when she also had her son to care for.

 

Sometime trusting in God does make us appear to be foolish

in the eyes of others.

What we give to God is returned to us a hundredfold.

Our giving is never in vain.

 

 

Our second widow has come to the temple to worship. She files into the temple with the crowds and drops in her last two coins for her offering.

Some would say that she too acted foolishly; giving her last couple coins.

The scribes and Pharisees all but despised widows. They often took advantage of their poor financial state insisting that they pay their part.

 

So there she was giving her all along side of those

who were giving from their abundance and wealth.

She was giving from her poverty.

Which is the greater gift?

If we only give from our abundance...is it truly giving?

 

Give yourself fully to God.

He will use you to accomplish great things

on the condition that you believe

much more in His love than in your own weakness.
Mother Teresa

 

These wise words from Mother Teresa

give us much to contemplate in this season of thanks and giving.

 

Jesus gave all that he was for our salvation...

every last drop of blood.

We have never been expected to give at that deep level.

 

May our giving bring us greated cause to trust in God's providential care.

He will take what litle we may have and turn it into so much more.

God will provide!

The jar will never be empty if we trust in him.