Daily Catholic Lectio
Sun, 10 November 2024
XXXII Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 17:10-16. Hebrews 9:24-28. Mark 12:38-44
Clay jar and copper coins
In today’s liturgy of the word, we meet two widows. In the first reading, God, as the Lord, sends His prophet Elijah to the house of a widow in Zarephath. When we read the story at a glance, it seems that Elijah is saving the widow. However, in a close reading, we notice that God uses a widow to keep His prophet alive. God sometimes uses people who are in desperate situations to His advantage, like Samson’s unnamed mother, Samuel’s mother Hannah, and John the Baptist’s mother Elizabeth.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus warns that the scribes devour widows’ houses; later, He praises a widow who puts in all she has as an offering. It would have been better if Jesus had criticized the temple structure of his time instead of praising the widow. He could have condemned the temple, the social and religious structures that compel widows to give their last coins. Often time, our clergy use ‘the widow of the story’ to collect more money from the people. If a temple and its priests must rely on the last coins of widows to sustain themselves, is such a structure necessary?
Both widows are wise. They challenge God with their clay jar and copper coins. They make the gods serve them. They turn their hunger and poverty into the foundation of revolution.
How?
Elijah carries out his prophetic work during a very difficult time. After Solomon, the United Kingdom of Israel splits into ‘Israel’ in the North and ‘Judah’ in the South. While Ahab rules in the north, he turns his nation into a land of Baal worship. Influenced by his Phoenician wife Jezebel, Ahab abandons the God of Israel and becomes a worshiper of Baal. He establishes Baal worship as the state religion of Israel. Many who follow the king forget the Lord, their God, and serve Baal. Since Baal was considered the god of storms, he was thought to be responsible for rain. As the Israelites depended on agriculture for their livelihood, the need for rain increased the allure of Baal. Elijah, who condemns the king’s actions, becomes an enemy of the king and is forced to flee his own land.
In today’s first reading, God sends Elijah to a widow in Zarephath. This city is in Phoenicia, and all its inhabitants worship Baal. The time Elijah goes is during a severe famine, which the Lord Himself has caused. Why should God punish the land and the innocent for the king Ahab’s sin? By stopping the rain, God nullifies the presence of Baal. The worshipers of Baal believed that rain was a natural phenomenon that Baal controlled. The widow whom Elijah meets is a worshiper of Baal, as her words indicate. She says to Elijah, “As the Lord your God lives!” How did she come to question the Lord? How did she know that Elijah was a prophet of that God? This woman’s knowledge amazes us.
Elijah first asks for water, then for a cake. The woman hesitates because all they have is a handful of flour and a few drops of oil left in a jar! She was ready to die, saying, “After that, we will die.” Elijah says to her, “Until the day the Lord sends rain, the flour in the jar will not be used up, and the oil in the jug will not run dry.” Elijah’s prophecy comes true. That jar of flour becomes a source of sustenance for Elijah, the widow, her son, and her household.
The widow believes Elijah’s words. It is not the flour that will run out but Elijah and his God, so she takes courage. At the same time, she trusts both Elijah and his God.
The Gospel reading revolves around three types of people: (1) the scribes (or experts in the law), (2) the rich, and (3) the poor widow. The scribes were educated individuals in Jesus’ time. They were trained in civil and religious laws and were highly respected. They wore long robes as a sign of their status. They were given prominence in places of worship and gatherings. They were not paid for legal advice. Thus, apart from government duties, they relied on the generosity of others for their livelihood.
Jesus says that they “devour widows’ houses.: Some scribes lived with wealthy widows for their income and comfort. These widows, not being under their husbands’ control, were owners of money and property. With their beautiful words and long prayers, they enticed widows and took money from them. Sometimes they even sued them and took all their possessions. Jesus criticizes the scribes for using and intimidating widows in the name of religion and religious laws. Thus, the scribes use their authority solely for their benefit.
The poor widow faced a different problem. Every Jew was required to pay a half-shekel tax each year for the benefit of the Jerusalem temple and the priests. They had to place this tax in the offering box at the Jerusalem temple. The poor widow puts in two small copper coins, equivalent to a quarter of a shekel. This is just 1/60thof the tax due. She has no money to pay the temple tax. She gives everything she has. Did she give everything because of her faith in God? Or out of anger towards God—You took my husband! You took my money! You took my children! You took my health! Here, take this money too!—we do not know. But she kept nothing for herself.
Since she kept nothing for herself, God must now take care of her. Thus, she is portrayed as a model by Jesus. The temple tax is an offering of gratitude that people pay for God’s care. The rich gave from their surplus. That is, even though they offered as thanks for divine care, they kept enough for their own sustenance. But the widow is entirely reliant on divine care.
In the first reading, the widow empties her jar to feed God’s prophet. In the Gospel reading, the widow empties her coins before the Son of God.
What life lessons do these two widows teach us?
(1) Trust in divine providence
They believed that “the Lord who provides food for the birds of the air and clothing for the flowers of the field” would also provide for them. In the first reading, the widow first looks at her jar. That is why she says, “After we eat, my son and I will die.” But upon hearing the words of Elijah, she boldly sets out. This single widow would have fed the entire town with that jar. The whole town would know that the flour and oil would not run out. In the very place where Baal worship occurs, the Lord establishes His providence. In the gospel reading, we see the poor widow viewing the temple tax as a thank you for divine providence. She gives everything. She must have known the verses of today’s response psalm, “The Lord upholds the fatherless and the widow” (see Ps 146).
(2) Freedom of heart or inner freedom
What I hold onto holds me. For example, if I tie a puppy with a rope and lead it, it seems I am holding the puppy. But as it starts to move, the puppy begins to hold me. Thinking it cannot run away from me, I find myself unable to run away from it. Wealth, name, fame, and power are all the same. The two widows mentioned above are not attached to anything. This is a sign of their freedom of heart or their inner freedom. If it were a sign of despair, the first widow would have broken her jar. The second widow would have thrown her coins at the temple. But, their internal freedom makes them hope-filled persons.
(3) Standing with the weak
According to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus begins His ministry in Nazareth, referencing Elijah being sent to the widow of Zarephath. God stands with the widow, who is in a position of weakness. By praising the widow who put in her offering before many who had much, Jesus stands with her. In the second reading, the author of Hebrews compares the high priest of the Jerusalem temple with Jesus, the incomparable high priest of heavenly Jerusalem, stating that Jesus’ priesthood is in standing with the weak (see Hebrews 4). Are we ready to stand with the weak today? How can we empower those who are in a position of weakness?
Finally,
Clay jar and copper are tools of revolution, change, and life.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
Missionary of Mercy
Yesu Karunanidhi 
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