The Enduring Lesson of the Two Widows

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

November 7, 2021

The readings for this weekend feature two widows. In biblical times, widows were very vulnerable figures especially those who had no support and assistance from nuclear or extended family. At that time, there was no social service network, no welfare assistance to support those who lost their means of livelihood. And because women were not breadwinners, they were the most threatened in the society. They were habitually exploited by the wealthy and the powerful. This is the reason why the prophets of the Old Testament talk so much about widows and orphans, about God’s love for them and the importance of caring for them.

In the first reading, we hear of the widow of Zarephath and her encounter with prophet Elijah. This story happened in the 9th century BC when the wicked Ahab was the king of Israel and his idol worshipping wife, Jezebel, was the queen. During this time, there was a severe famine in the land which prophet Elijah maintains is caused by king Ahab’s apostasy. For Elijah, God is punishing Israel because of the king’s idolatry. The bitting consequence of the draught brings the widow of Zarephath and her son on the edge of a precipice, on the edge of dying of starvation. They are now down to their last meal. Everything else they have is finished. And she has no tangible means of support, no helper and no hope. It is at this desperate moment that Elijah enters the scene. He comes to her and begs, “please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” Elijah’s request brings to mind another request made in the New Testament. To the woman at the well Jesus says, “Give me to drink.” The woman at the well was an outsider for the following reasons: she was a woman, which made her a second class citizen; she was a Samaritan, that is untouchable for the Jews; she had been married so many times, and probably seen as adulterous. So, both Elijah and Jesus spoke to women in rather desperate situations and asked them to give. What? To give? These women need something. They need to receive something. But here is the paradox. It is precisely when you need something that you are asked to give. This giving can take many forms. It might mean the giving of your wealth, it might mean giving joy, giving life, giving peace, becoming instrument of God’s purposes. Give out of your poverty. 

After Elijah asks for water, he intensifies his request. Like Oliver Twist, he asks for more. When the widow protests that what she has is just one meal for her and her son before they die, Elijah asks her to make him a cake. At the very bottom of her life, when she has nothing, she is invited now to give and give. The great spiritual truth is that when you are linked to God who is nothing but Gift, you can give and give and never run out. As Elijah says, “The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry.” The widow of Zarephath was able to eat for a year with her son because they gave everything away. The flip side of this truth is this— when we cling to false substitutes to God- wealth, power, pleasure and honor, we can amass as much as we want, but we will never get enough. If you turn something that is not God into God, you can store up all you want, it will never be enough. God is love. To be filled with God is to be filled with love. This is the biblical principle and once you get it, you have the Bible. If you want your life to increase, give it away. If you want your faith to increase, share it. If your faith is not strong enough, share the little you have with someone, and it will grow. If you want joy in your life, become a bearer of joy. Make other people joyful. When we are running out, the tendency is to panic and to cling to the little we have. But the biblical principle says that your being increases in the measure that you give it away. If you want more life, become a bearer of life to others. You become more peaceful by being a conduit of peace, by spreading peace around. 

In the Gospel (Mark 12:38-44), we encounter another widow. Towards the end of his life, Jesus comes with his disciples into the temple precinct. He notices the scribes and pharisees wearing their distinctive robes, accepting greetings according to their proper titles and taking seats of honor. In order words, they were in a classic hoarding mode. They are not so much hoarding money but they are taking much honor and privilege and attention as possible. Some people think that grabbing more honor and title from people will make them happy. However, anyone who has tried this trick knows how hopeless it is. Because the thrill one gets from such attention, such greetings, such titles wears off very quickly. And after that, one needs more and more of it, and the person will never get enough. But with the widow in today’s Gospel, we see a great contrast. Like the widow of Zarephath, this poor lady gives the last thing she has for the glory of God. As Jesus puts it, she contributed from her poverty, not from her surplus. A widow with no welfare system behind her and no visible means of support, but she takes the tiny gift she has and offered it to God. We don’t know what eventually happened to this widow. We are not told if she was rewarded like the widow of Zarephath, however the biblical principle still holds: your being increases in the measure you give it away. Do you feel like you have hit bottom? Are you like the widow of Zarephath and the widow in the Gospel? Are you down to the last meal, to the last bit of money? Look for Elijah especially now. Look for the presence of the Lord and he always invite you to do one thing— to give. Mark this! The divine comes into our lives precisely at the moment of  great vulnerability and need. When we rely absolutely on own power and resources, we can rarely reach out to God. When everything is going well, and we have plenty of comfort, money and satisfaction, we depend on those securities. We tend to be indifferent to God and tend to keep God at bay. We become confident that our education and job can guarantee us all the goods of the world. However, when ego and those securities are knocked around, wounded, rendered powerless, that is often when God moves in. It is precisely when we hit bottom like the widow of Zarephath, that we are ready to receive divine grace.