Not all of the reflections are equally good, but Fr. Miller is consistently good. I have been listening to them daily for almost a year now and have been pleasantly surprised. Why surprised? Well, I used to think that Catholics didn’t know their Bibles very well. That may be true in a way since not all who claim to be Catholic actually attend Mass regularly to hear Scripture read and commented on.
I am finding that Catholic Christians are indeed Bible Christians. I feel a bit foolish for making that discovery - kind of like what Chesterton shared about his discovery of Catholicism after spending much of his life as a Protestant. He felt a bit like a man who discovers England. It had been there all along, so he felt rather foolish when he discovered the obvious.
These are two faith filled women who were both poor and widows. That makes them examples for all of us. We are all like those women. They teach us about kingdom living.
1. I Kings 17 is the story of the widow of Zarephath and her encounter with the Prophet Elisha.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Even though she had little left, the Prophet insists that she feed him first. He also gives her the wonderful promise that God would provide. Because of her faith, she does it and finds out that God’s word is true. She let go of the little she had, trusting that God would take care of her and her son.
2. Mark 12 has the little story about the widow’s offering - The Widow’s Mite as it is known by many.
Mark 12
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Her model of faith is similar to that of the other widow. She probably wasn’t even aware of Jesus’ presence in the Temple. She gave everything she had.
This raises the questions. Do we give out of our surplus or do we give sacrificially? We are to trust God even when it hurts. How will we respond? Each one must decide.
No comments:
Post a Comment