The women in our readings today, the widow of Zarephath and the widow in the temple treasury, gave not from their surplus but from their want…each one gave all that she had. That fact that they are widows living in a patriarchal society with no male relatives mentioned points towards an understanding that they were on their own with no one to guard them or provide for their needs. Widows had little or no social standing in the patriarchal society they lived in. Widows and orphans were the most vulnerable class of people in this society and there were scriptural edicts that they were to be protected, but obviously their poverty and dire situations proved that these edicts were not followed.
The Widow of Zarephath is blessed by God for her generosity with a flour jar and an oil jug that never runs out and she and her son survive the drought. And the widow at the temple, unaware that she is being watched, is hailed by Jesus as a woman with the most generous heart, unlike those who were rich and made a scene of their gifts. And Jesus diminishes the value of their gifts because of the size of their wealth. So the lowly widow, who gave from her want, becomes the heroine of the story.
There are so many examples of people in our world today who give like the women in today’s scripture, not just money but their time and talent. They see a need and they respond to that need…foster parents, hospice and healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers, military women and men, teachers, parents who sacrifice so much for their children to have a safe and good life. The list goes on and on, and includes YOU, each time you reach out in kindness to help someone in need, each time you think of the other instead of yourself, each time you seek to feed the stranger with your last bit of flour and oil you are that widow, each time you offer more than you have to really offer to aid someone in need or to a good cause you are that widow with the most generous heart that Jesus pointed out to his disciples in the temple. When was the last time I “acted as the widows did”?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
The Widow of Zarephath is blessed by God for her generosity with a flour jar and an oil jug that never runs out and she and her son survive the drought. And the widow at the temple, unaware that she is being watched, is hailed by Jesus as a woman with the most generous heart, unlike those who were rich and made a scene of their gifts. And Jesus diminishes the value of their gifts because of the size of their wealth. So the lowly widow, who gave from her want, becomes the heroine of the story.
There are so many examples of people in our world today who give like the women in today’s scripture, not just money but their time and talent. They see a need and they respond to that need…foster parents, hospice and healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers, military women and men, teachers, parents who sacrifice so much for their children to have a safe and good life. The list goes on and on, and includes YOU, each time you reach out in kindness to help someone in need, each time you think of the other instead of yourself, each time you seek to feed the stranger with your last bit of flour and oil you are that widow, each time you offer more than you have to really offer to aid someone in need or to a good cause you are that widow with the most generous heart that Jesus pointed out to his disciples in the temple. When was the last time I “acted as the widows did”?
Blessings,
Fr Tim
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