Reading 1
1 Kgs 17:7-16
The brook near where Elijah was hiding ran dry,
because no rain had fallen in the land.
So the LORD said to Elijah:
“Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there.
I have designated a widow there to provide for you.”
He left and went to Zarephath.
As he arrived at the entrance of the city,
a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her,
“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.”
She left to get it, and he called out after her,
“Please bring along a bit of bread.”
She answered, “As the LORD, your God, lives,
I have nothing baked;
there is only a handful of flour in my jar
and a little oil in my jug.
Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son;
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”
Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid.
Go and do as you propose.
But first make me a little cake and bring it to me.
Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son.
For the LORD, the God of Israel, says,
‘The jar of flour shall not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.’”
She left and did as Elijah had said.
She was able to eat for a year, and Elijah and her son as well;
the jar of flour did not go empty,
nor the jug of oil run dry,
as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
Gospel
Mt 5: 13-16
Jesus said to his disciples:
“You are the salt of the earth.
But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned?
It is no longer good for anything
but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
You are the light of the world.
A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden.
Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket;
it is set on a lampstand,
where it gives light to all in the house.
Just so, your light must shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds
and glorify your heavenly Father.”
Meditation: 1 Kings 17:7-16
The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry. (1 Kings 17:14)
During the persecutions of the early church, a deacon named Lawrence was ordered by the prefect of Rome to hand over the church’s riches. In response, he gathered not silver or gold but the orphans and widows, the poor and sick and the dying, whom the church was caring for. “These,” he told the prefect, “are the treasures of the church.”
If this is truly how God views the poor and needy, then why do many of us have a hard time going out of our way to help them? Jesus promised that the poor would be with us always (John 12:8). And he meant by that not only the materially poor but everyone who was needy in any way: people with physical disabilities, those with mental illnesses, people caught in addiction, and anyone else who is marginalized or ignored. How terrible it is to suffer physically because you can’t afford medical care! How stressful to be unemployed and unable to feed or clothe your family! How lonely to be forgotten in a nursing home or prison. These are all the “poor” whom Jesus considers his treasure—the very ones society considers burdens.
How can you be part of God’s response to the cry of the poor? Maybe you can follow Elijah’s example and set your sights on just one needy situation that you know about. Don’t think that you have to do something big. You can better the world just by making one person’s world better. If all you do is help out at a local food bank for a few hours or help someone find a job, you will be making a big difference. And what could be more powerful than devoting a few minutes each day, or even one prayer time a week, to interceding for the poor and needy?
You will know you are answering the cry of the poor when you see your own heart changing. Anyone can give a handout, after all. But when we lend our hands in union with the Spirit, God sees to it that everyone is rewarded. Everyone who gives Jesus—in whatever way—receives him just as much!
“Lord, give me the heart to go out into the world as your hands and feet tending to the poor.”
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