Today we celebrate Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, a “type” if you will, of the poor, one in solidarity with widows, orphans, and the needy, and a perfect high priest, pure and selfless, humble and simple yet very extraordinary! Jesus, the most trusting in our Heavenly Father, even while nailed to a cross. We also see this humility, this trust in God especially in our scripture readings today.
We heard of two widows, models of discipleship, of selfless giving. One is the widow of Zarephath, a port city on the Phoenician Coast, who generously fed God’s prophet Elijah as we heard in our first reading from Kings. The action of Elijah to seek out this widow for refuge from the drought, instructed by God to do so, had some reservations about this widow.
First, she was not in the fold of Israel, God’s chosen people and secondly, she was a widow. In those days widows depended totally on their husbands for their livelihoods, for their basic needs and being a widow most likely had barely enough for her and her son to survive on.
What does this widow do when asked by Elijah to feed him first? She does so. This act by her was pretty remarkable. At the word of a God she does not worship and a prophet she does not know, the widow does what is asked of her. Her act of total trust is rewarded by complete fulfillment of the Lord’s promise that her flower and oil would not fail until the drought ends. Being in a time of drought, she still gives what she has to feed Elijah.
She needed this meal but realizing that Elijah needed it more, she was able to let go for Elijah’s sake and for this selfless sacrifice, God did not let her go unrewarded. She never lacked food for that year.
The second widow from Mark’s gospel made a very generous offering to the temple treasury with two small coins, all that she had, worth only a couple of cents. Though she had very little compared to others, she was not discouraged to give the little she had. She knew even though her contribution had lesser value, that it would make an impact.
She did not leave the treasury for the rich to contribute alone. From her we can learn to always make our contributions and sacrifices no matter how large and especially how small we think they are. There is this saying that, “It takes drops of rain to make an ocean.” So do not feel you have too little to give or withhold it because you think it is small. It can make the whole difference.
These two widows in our readings today exhibited a high level of trust and dependence on God, even though one did not know him. They realized that it is only God who could sustain them. This is also what we heard in our psalm today.
Now, God does not expect us to give all we have to the point where we cannot sustain our lives, but he does expect us to give according to our hearts and our conscience. And maybe, just maybe, give what we can until it starts to hurt!
Even Christ as our second reading from Hebrews tells us, made one and eternal selfless sacrifice for all of us. Is He really asking that much of us?
So, what can we sacrifice today for the poor, the needy, abandoned, your neighbor, your Parish? Our money, time, advice, words of consolation, encouragement could be our jar of meal or it could be our widows mite. The choice is ours!
It is hard to let go of what we have, especially our financial security or at best what we feel is our security. This reminds me of a story called “THE ROPE.”
It begins with a mountain climber who wanted to climb the highest mountain. Since he wanted the glory just for himself, like the Pharisees, Scribes and the Priests in Jesus’ time, he decided to climb the mountain alone. So he climbed and climbed, and even right into the night he climbed, even though he could not see much in that pitch darkness.
As he hastened his climb to the summit he suddenly slipped and fell into thin air. Great fear seized him as his life flashed before him. As he kept falling into certain death, suddenly he felt the rope that was tied around his waist pull him very hard.
His body was hanging in the air with only the rope holding him and in desperation he screamed, “Help me, O God, help me.”
Suddenly, in that pitch darkness a deep voice came from the skies, “How do you want me to help you?”
The man was surprised but quickly answered, “Save me, O God, save me!”
The voice said, “Do you really believe that I can save you?”
The man answered, “ Yes, yes, I believe, I believe!”
The voice said, “Then do as I tell you. Cut away the rope that is tied to your waist.”
There was a moment of silence. The man decided to hold onto the rope with all his might.
The next day, the rescue team saw an intriguing sight. The climber was found dead and frozen, his body hanging from a rope with his hands holding it tight. His body was only 10 feet from the ground.
Indeed, it is hard for us to let go of our time, our talents and our treasures. But it is in letting go that we live and become fully alive. I often think about this for my own life and I can only come up with this: “The gifts God gives me is possessed by me through the sharing of these gifts with others.” Is it the same with you?
We have heard great and sacrificial ways of giving in our scriptures today. We are challenged to give; to give of ourselves, our time, our talents, and our treasure and also our love, our knowledge, our experiences, our very lives.
Our God asks this of us and as an example he has already given his life for us. When we meet Him in heaven, as I pray we all will, what gift will He be referencing too when he tells you, “I saw you give and I am so proud.”