On the 11th day in the 11th month in 1918, WWI ended. Next Thursday, November 11, we honor our U.S. veterans, some 17 million plus military men and women. We thank them for their service to our country.
More and more people are getting high tech hearing aids. I heard about a ninety-year old grandfather who bought a set; they worked perfectly. When he went back for his check-up, the audiologist said, “I bet your family was surprised.” The grandfather replied,” I haven’t told them yet. I listen to what they say about me. I’ve already changed my will three times.” Moral of the story: be careful what you say.
The word of God takes us back to the 9th century before Jesus, to a Hebrew prophet named Elijah. In today’s word, a widow, a non-Jew or so-called Gentile, is down to her last handful of flour and a tiny bit of oil. She’s making her last meal before she and her child die from starvation.
Suddenly she meets Elijah, who asks for water and a bit of bread. Elijah asks her to trust in God. The widow faces a dilemma: should she trust in Elijah’s God who, Elijah says will provide a never-ending supply of flour and oil? Or should she feed her starving child first.
Trust and hospitality win; the widow gives all she has to Elijah. Amazingly, the promise comes true; she has a never-ending supply. That truly was a great act of faith in God’s eternal providence. This word challenges us to trust in God, and to be hospitable and generous to one another.
In the Gospel, we hear about a widow who put her last two
coins into the Temple treasury in Jerusalem. Jesus comments that, in contrast
to those who gave from their surplus, this woman gave “all she had to live on.”
Another great act of faith. This word also challenges us to trust in God and to
be generous.
The author of Hebrews speaks about the superiority of Jesus’s one sacrifice to the many sacrifices in the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus through his death and resurrection opens up to humankind eternal heavenly life beyond this earthly life.
Thinking about today’s word of God, I recalled a photographer sharing a scene after a devastating earthquake in Latin America. At the end of a long line for food stood a girl about 12 years old. Finally, the only food left was one banana. The girl took the precious food across the street where three children waited. She divided the banana into three equal parts to feed the youngsters, and then she licked the inside of that banana peel. “In that moment,” wrote the photographer, “I swear I saw the face of God!”
Yes, the word of God challenges us to ask ourselves: do we reveal the face of God to one another? As missionary disciples of Jesus, we ought to show the face of God in our everyday behavior, especially by living the beatitudes that Matthew sums up so splendidly in Chapter 5 of his Gospel.
I would like to think Jesus would say this about us:
If you’re working to pay the bills but making time to be with your spouse and children especially when they need you, blessed are you. Heaven will be yours.
If you are overwhelmed caring for a chronically ill family member, but you try your best to make a loving home for them, blessed are you. One day your sorrow will be transformed into joy.
If you refuse to take shortcuts when it
comes to doing what's right, if you refuse to compromise your integrity and
ethics, if you refuse to rationalize that “everyone does it,” blessed are you –
you will triumph.
If you readily spend time listening and consoling; if you manage to heal wounds and build bridges; if others see in you goodness, graciousness, joy and serenity; if you can see the good in everyone and seek the good for everyone, blessed are you. You are the face of God in our midst.
Rejoice and be glad, Jesus says. In the
end, heaven is yours.
May God give each of us the grace to show Him to others in our attitudes and behaviors. The beatitudes in Matthew 5 is one way. The way the two poor women in the word of God did is another; and the way that Latina girl served a banana to those three youngsters is still another way. Let's look for such opportunities to show the face of God in our daily lives.
