Thoughts to live by: The Prophet Elijah

Sunday, 10 November, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings — 1 Kgs. 17: 10-16; Ps. 146:7, 8-9, 9-10; Heb. 9:24-28; Mk. 12:38-44 or 41-44.

1. 1st Reading, 1 Kgs. 17:10-16 — The Prophet Elijah, the Tishbite, lived in the 9th century. He was from Tishbe, in the northern kingdom of Israel. In our 1st Reading, he announces to King Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word” (v. 1). The Lord tells Elijah to go and hide in the Wadi Cherith, east of the Jordan. He shall drink from the Wadi and ravens will feed him with bread and meat. And so he goes.

2. But after a while, the Wadi runs dry because of the drought that Elijah himself had announced to King Ahab. So, the Lord tells him to go to Zarephath where a widow would feed him. So he goes. At the entrance of the city, he sees the widow gathering sticks. He calls out to her for a cup of water and a crust of bread. But the widow says she has no bread, and has only a little flour and a little oil to make bread for herself and her son. Elijah tells the widow not to be afraid (vv. 2-13). Flour and oil will always be there “until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth” (v. 14). So the widow bakes cake for Elijah. And as Elijah had said, the jar of flour and jug of oil never go empty (vv. 15-16).

3. Resp. Ps. 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 — In Praise of God. “Halleluiah!” (v. 1). The Lord “secures justice for the oppressed, gives bread to the hungry, sets prisoners free” (v. 7). “The Lord gives sight to the blind, raises up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous, protects the resident alien, comes to the aid of the orphan and the widow, but thwarts away the wicked” (vv. 8-9).

4. 2nd Reading, Heb. 9:24-28 — Contrast between the sacrifice of Moses and of Jesus. Moses sprinkled the book containing the commandments and the people with the blood of calves, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God had enjoined upon you” (vv. 19-20). He also sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of worship with blood. “According to the law, almost everything is purified by blood, and without blood, there is no forgiveness” (vv. 21-22; contrary to Hebrews, Ex. 40:9-11 does not say anything about purifying the tabernacle with blood. There are also other forms of forgiveness such as contrition of heart (Ps. 51:17), fasting (Jl. 2:12), and almsgiving (Sir. 3:29).

5. But Christ enters, not the earthly sanctuary, but the heavenly sanctuary and appears before God on our behalf (vv. 23-24). He does not offer himself repeatedly, but does so once for all to take away sin by the sacrifice of his blood (vv. 25-27). And when he comes again, he will “bring salvation to those who eagerly await him” (v. 28).

6. The role of Jesus as mediator of the New Covenant is based on his sacrificial death, which has brought deliverance from sins. He offered the single unrepeatable sacrifice of himself as the final annulment of sin, the single sacrifice for our redemption. Holy Mass, which is the sacramental memorial of Christ’s sacrifice is not another sacrifice. It simply commemorates, continues, and brings the one sacrifice of Christ to our altars. It is he himself who offers the sacrifice through the hands of the priest.

7. Gospel, Mk. 12:38-44 or 41-44 — Jesus denounces the hypocrisy of the Scribes, who like to be honored and be greeted in public places. They “devour widows” (prey upon the property of widows), and make a show of lengthy prayers. The more severe will be the judgment on them (vv. 38-40).

8. Sitting down, Jesus observes how people are putting money into the treasury. Rich people put in large sums. Then a poor widow puts in 2 small coins “worth a few cents” (vv. 41- 42). Jesus tells his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors.” The others contribute from their surplus. “But, she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood” (vv. 43-44).

9. The 1st Beatitude, “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” is demonstrated by the poor widow. She is not only materially poor, she is poor in spirit. By giving everything she has, she expresses her total dependence on God’s grace, not on what she owns. Her giving is a giving of love. The story also exemplifies the predilection, the special love of Jesus for the poor. Not only is the widow poor but, without her husband, she has no source of support. The Gospel story of the widow with her two coins looks back to the Elijah story of the widow with little flour and little oil. They impel us to give to the Lord with total love and generosity. In Lk.4:26, Jesus cites Elijah and the widow of Zarephath to show the rejection of Israel. Despite the many widows in Israel, It was not anyone of them that Elijah assisted but a widow from Zarephath in the land of Sidon.

10. Prayer — Almighty ever-living God, in the self-giving sacrifice of your Son for our salvation and in the Scripture stories of the two poor widows, you teach us lessons of sacrificial self-giving. Grant, O loving Lord, that, with great love and generosity, we may return to you, through deeds of service, the gifts of mind and heart that you have given us. This we pray, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayers, best wishes, God bless!