First reading: 1 Kgs. 17:10–16

In those days, Elijah the prophet 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 he 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.

Second reading: Heb. 9:24–28

Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a copy of the true one, but heaven itself, that he might now appear before God on our behalf. Not that he might offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters each year into the sanctuary with blood that is not his own; if that were so, he would have had to suffer repeatedly from the foundation of the world. But now once for all he has appeared at the end of the ages to take away sin by his sacrifice. Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him.

Gospel: Mk. 12:38–44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said to the crowds, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.

Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

In other words

by Fr. Dionisio M. Miranda, SVD (Divine Word Seminary, Tagaytay City)

With the death of her husband, the widow faced a break and anxious future. She had been deprived of the one person she could count on to protect her without fail, to provide for her basic needs, and to ensure her well-being. Having a child to support made survival and even subsistence extremely precarious. The widow of Zarephath was hardly being melodramatic in saying the meal she was preparing for herself and her son could possibly be their last.

It was for such vulnerability that Jewish law mandated the dead husband’s brother to come to her rescue by taking her to his home with the rights of a wife (Dt. 25:5ff). It was even implied that a brother who refused this duty should be ashamed of himself or reproached by society (Is. 54:5). This custom, known as levirate, was the same background to the question of the Sadducees to Jesus regarding the hypothetical case of a widow married to seven brothers. At the religious level the Old Testament consistently says that God saves the helpless by giving them homes and security. Through Elijah God provided her with an unfailing jar of flour and a jug of oil.

Cultural norms have evolved; in many states widows are no longer considered the property of their husbands; in some, they even have rights to their husband’s estate; more recently a few states have made it a policy to provide public support for widows (and widowers) especially if they must continue their parenting duties of very young orphans. Some parishes have special bereavement services to provide pastoral support to grieving widows. The point is that if compassion and solidarity are God’s way with widows and the vulnerable, the summons to us is that we should do likewise. Have we done enough? What else can we do for other vulnerable persons?

That said, we need to reflect a little deeper as the Gospel suggests. The quality of any gift depends on at least two features. One is the sacrifice it costs to the giver; here Jesus contrasts the disparity between the gifts of the wealthy offered from their surplus and the gift of the widow offered from her poverty. The other is the attitude of the giver; here Jesus contrasts the attitude of the scribe, so self-conscious, self-important, self-satisfied with his pious donation, and the attitude of the widow, so unself-unconscious, unself-important, and intent alone on giving her utmost to the Lord.

Our fundraising campaigns for the church, particularly for infrastructure and equipment are often targeted to corporate sponsors who are only too happy to give, especially if the donation is tax-deductible and comes with naming rights. When the collection box passes around in church, we must admit, that our token contributions come closer to the model of the scribe, because it often counts among our expendables. Can we today recall one single moment when our gift to God came out of our last resources, given without thought of tomorrow, and offered only in pure gratitude to God’s Providence? Without this last, it will be difficult to understand Jesus’ empathetic commendation of the widow’s mite.