As we enter into the final few weeks of the Liturgical Year, the Church teaches us the importance of sacrifice. The central sacrifice in all history is that of Jesus Christ. As today’s reading from Hebrews tells us, “once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice.” Jesus sacrificed his own life as an offering for our sins. Through his Death and Resurrection, he has won for us the gift of eternal life. He invites us to participate in his saving mission by making an offering of our own lives to him and with him. Today’s readings give us vivid examples of this kind of self-offering.
The first reading describes an encounter between Elijah and a destitute widow in Zarephath. The widow has almost nothing left to live on, only a handful of flour and a little oil. She expects that after one final meal, she and her son will die of starvation. But Elijah asks her to feed him first! It may seem to us that the prophet is being grossly selfish to ask such a sacrifice from the poorest of the poor, but he is actually following the directions of God, who had told him that he had commanded a widow in Zarephath to care for him (cf. 1 Kgs 17:9). Elijah too is poor; he has been living day by day in absolute dependence on God. He is not asking the widow to do any more than God has asked of him. He extends to her God’s own promise: “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.” The poor widow believes in the word of God; she acts in faith; and the word is fulfilled on her behalf. Her supplies are indeed unending. The prophet is right: God provides for his people.
Perhaps the other widow, whom we meet in today’s Gospel, knows the story of the widow who cared for Elijah. Jesus points her out in the Temple as an example of generous, self-sacrificing love. Did she expect to be able to survive for a year after putting all she had into the treasury? There is no record of any prophet telling her that God would provide for her; nevertheless, she lives by faith. Faith itself is her inexhaustible treasure. In direct contrast to the self-centered, self-glorifying practices of the scribes, this poor widow gives not from her surplus wealth but from her poverty.
These two widows are inspiring in their total gift of self, but they are also quite disturbing to our human reasoning. We naturally question their prudence in giving away all they had. What will they live on? If we try to evaluate their actions without taking into account their faith, we will judge them as unreasonable, or worse, ridiculous. This is a wrong conclusion. The generosity that comes from faith is not simply a matter of giving away what we need to live on; rather it is dedicating everything we have to the Lord. It is trust in God, confidence in God, love for God. Perhaps God will never call us to give away everything we own – at least until the moment of our death, when we will leave everything behind anyway. But while we live on earth as children of God, we need to be willing to give to him whatever he may ask of us.
The widows present us with inspiring icons of the selfless love of Christ. He made the most “unreasonable” act of all; he “contributed all he had”: he sacrificed himself for the sake of his people. Sacrifice is a priestly act, and we are a priestly people. Our eternal High Priest, Jesus Christ, has shown us the redemptive power of sacrifice. He knows our absolute poverty, but he also knows that no one is so poor that he has nothing to give. The Lord is asking us for great faith, great love, great generosity – like that of these heroic widows. He is asking us to serve without counting the cost or seeking any personal reward. Christ invites us and empowers us to look beyond our selfish interests and even our legitimate needs to join him in the way of sacrificial love.
The secure basis for such a way of life is the Lord’s own generous love for us. We can confidently look beyond our own needs and reach out in love to care for the needs of others, knowing that the Lord in his providence will always care for us. He abundantly blesses hearts that are like his own; he enriches the poor with the fullness of life in his Kingdom. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
How does the faith of the two widows in today’s readings increase my trust in God’s providence? Where do I get the courage to give to God whatever he may ask of me? Why is it difficult for me to serve without counting the cost or seeking any personal reward?
Excerpt from The Anawim Way, Volume 20, no. 8. More information about The Anawim Way may be found here.