By the Faithful Disciple
GROW AS A DISCIPLE
“Give it your all! Leave it all on the field! Trust in your training/preparation/coaches.” We’ve all heard a version of this type of exhortation. It requires a great amount of confidence and trust – faith, if you will – to let go of our doubt and fears. The two widows of today’s readings had such confidence, as they offer us heroic examples of faith. The widow of Zarephath uses her only remaining food to cook for Elijah. She did this after receiving God’s promise that, “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.” The widow had the assurance that God would sustain her, and she lived by it – trusting she could give her all, because with God’s help there would be more. Likewise, the widow in the Gospel could make an offering to the temple treasury because of her limitless confidence in God: she gave “her whole livelihood.” From that moment, she would have nothing to sustain her but God’s providential care. By their unreserved acts of generosity, both women consented to rely on God in the most absolute sense. And in so doing, they silently proclaimed their faith in the personal and unconditional love that God had for each of them.
GO EVANGELIZE
So deeply did these two women believe in God’s goodness that they were able to act without fear. Confident in his love, they could give to the point of having nothing left. They, literally, “gave it all that they had.” Rather than being burdensome, however, their surrender was the basis of their relationship with God and therefore, it was a much greater treasure than material goods. This message is clearly at odds with the notion that possessions and wealth are the basis of happiness. By rejecting this idea, giving generously of ourselves and trusting God to sustain us, we gain more than we could ever give up. Like the widow whose jar never runs dry, when we fill our lives with what God offers and not what the world offers, we live with abundance.
REFLECT
Choose one aspect of your life you can mentally “reframe” in order to see it not as a lack but as an opportunity to cast yourself more fully on God. Spend 15 minutes this week speaking to God about this. If you can, thank him for the chance to draw closer to him. If it is too difficult to thank him for your trial, ask him to help you see and appreciate how he is leading you along this path of greater intimacy with him.