Although Elijah is one of the most highly regarded prophets of Israel, we know very little about him. He appears very suddenly in the seventeenth chapter of the First Book of Kings: “Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab: ‘As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.’”
The collection of stories about Elijah all serve one purpose; namely, they bring us to the realization that God is faithful. All the promises made by God are fulfilled. By contrast, the various kings who sat on the throne of Israel during the life of Elijah, in particular King Ahab, all fail to live up to the promises that were made at the inauguration of the Sinai Covenant.
Yesterday, Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Some may be led to believe that God loves poor people more than rich people. The story of the widow of Zarephath seems to indicate God’s benevolence to this poor woman and her son. We must recognize that it is not the woman’s poverty which endears her to God. It is her willingness to be generous and hospitable to the prophet when he asks her for a cup of water and a bit of bread. Her willingness to share the little she had with the man of God is another powerful “Yes” which prefigures the “Yes” of Mary in the Gospel of St. Luke.
God is even more generous with us. While he sustained the life of the widow and her son through the drought, God has sustained us with the Bread of Life in which we have communion with God each day in the Eucharist. When we come to the table of the Lord, we are greeted with the words, “The Body of Christ.” Our “Amen” is our “Yes.” Yes, we believe; yes, we accept this gift; yes, we will share what we have received with others. In this way, we echo the generosity and hospitality of the poor widow in today’s Scriptures.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator