Sunday 10 November 2024

Today is Sunday the 10th of November, beginning the 32nd week of Ordinary Time. The community of Taizé sing Fiez-vous en lui: “Trust in Him and do not fear. The peace of God will protect your hearts. Alleluia.” (Lyrics currently unavailable) Today’s reading is from the First Book of Kings. 1 Kings 17:10-16 So [Elijah] set out and went to Zarephath. When he came to the gate of the town, a widow was there gathering sticks; he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a little water in a vessel, so that I may drink.’ As she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, ‘Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.’ But she said, ‘As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a jug; I am now gathering a couple of sticks, so that I may go home and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.’ Elijah said to her, ‘Do not be afraid; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterwards make something for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel: The jar of meal will not be emptied and the jug of oil will not fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. The story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath is a wonderful one. She is a gentile, an unnamed hero of faith. Her trust in God overcomes any fear and allows her to be generous. Fear makes it almost impossible to show love to others. It is often fear that makes us wary of the foreigner, of the migrant, of the poor. Can you let God into some of your own fears? What does God want you to know? Listen again to this encounter and pay attention to the widow…What’s the process going on in her? What’s happening in her heart? Her generosity is facilitated by her trust in the prophet Elijah, who is full of trust in God. Such trust is contagious and bears fruit in self-giving love. Ask God to look at and to touch your fears and to deepen your trust in God’s loving care for you . . . Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.