Initially when I joined the Salesians I was surprised to hear from the elderly Salesians that most of our benefactors were actually poor people - some much poorer than us Salesians whom they were helping!! Only then the gospel of the widow putting in her two pence, her entire earnings, made profound meaning to me.
The readings of the day from the book of the Kings, about Elijah the prophet and the widow, offer a similar insight. Elijah is told by Yahweh that he has instructed a widow to cater to his food. And who is this widow? A wealthy aristocrat? Not at all! She is so poor that she has only one meal left and on the brink of starvation! Yet she agrees to share the food, the only food she has, all that she has, with a total stranger.
God continues to play tricks: initially by designating her to share her only meal with a stranger and then by never letting her jar of flour and jug of oil go empty! And what's Elijay doing? What he is designated to do!
The readings of the day from the book of the Kings, about Elijah the prophet and the widow, offer a similar insight. Elijah is told by Yahweh that he has instructed a widow to cater to his food. And who is this widow? A wealthy aristocrat? Not at all! She is so poor that she has only one meal left and on the brink of starvation! Yet she agrees to share the food, the only food she has, all that she has, with a total stranger.
God continues to play tricks: initially by designating her to share her only meal with a stranger and then by never letting her jar of flour and jug of oil go empty! And what's Elijay doing? What he is designated to do!
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