Tuesday of the
Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
(I Kings 17:7-16; Matthew 5:13-16)
Few passages in American literature move the soul more
than the ending of The Grapes of Wrath. It shows a family struggling to survive. It left the “dust bowl” of Oklahoma for the
promise of California. But there the situation becomes direr. Their labor is exploited, and winter rains
sweep away their home. The eldest
daughter, whose young husband abandoned her, has given birth to a still-born. The
family takes shelter in an old barn.
There they meet a young boy and his father who is starving to death
after giving his son all his food. The young
woman who lost her baby then agrees to give her breastmilk to the dying man.
Today’s first reading relates a parallel story. Elijah, the prophet, is fleeing Israel
because of a draught. He goes to Zarephath,
a town on the Phoenician coast. There he encounters a pagan widow who is dying
of hunger along with her son. The
prophet tells her to bring him some bread.
She replies that she only has a handful of flour left to feed her son. Elijah tells her not to worry but to bring
him the bread. She believes the prophet,
feeds him, and miraculously never runs out of food.
Most of us use the possibility of incurring a shortfall
as an excuse not to help others. We may say
that “charity begins at home.” But
charity begins with God who gave His Son as the living bread for the life of
the world. Sharing our resources with
those in need will not make us poor.
Indeed, as much as our motive is faith in the ever-generous God, it will
enrich us.
