THE TALES OF TWO WIDOWS

Reflection on the Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time (1 Kings 17:10-16, Hebrews 9:24-28, Mark 12:38-44)

Biblically, widows are special. There are around 12 widows in the bible and while the Hebrew word for widow almanah (אלמנה) occurs 81 times in the Ancient Testament, the Greek alternative chera (χηρα) is employed 26 times in the New Testament. Widows are often grouped with orphans and the poor and together constitute God’s anawim (God’s poor ones). There are multiple injunctions to care for and defend widows (Deuteronomy 10:18, 24:17, Proverbs 15:25, Psalm 68:5, 146:9, Isaiah 1:17, Jeremiah 7:6-7, Zechariah 7:10, Acts 6:1-6, 1 Timothy 5:3-16). Causing them harm would incur God’s punishment (Exodus 22:22-24, Deuteronomy 27:19, Jeremiah 22:3-5, Malachi 3:5, Matthew 23:14, Mark 12:38-40, Luke 20:46-47). However, that is not all that is to the biblical understanding of widows. They are not just objects of our compassion. They are also active subjects/agents of God’s mission in salvation history. Today’s liturgy provides examples of two such widows with insights into true discipleship. 

1. God breaks into our isolation:

Understandably, widows constitute one of the most isolated sections of the patriarchal society in the biblical world. Having lost their husbands, they are left without a voice. A widow’s best hope for stability and security would be her son’s ability to provide for her or the goodwill of their families and neighbours. Alone and even abandoned, they became easy victims of oppression. As Jesus notes in the Gospel, even the learned scribes “devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext recite lengthy prayers”. One can certainly discern the rationale behind the concept of levirate marriage (Deuteronomy 25), wherein a brother of a man who dies without children is permitted or even encouraged to marry his brother’s widow.

In the first reading and the Gospel, God breaks into the lonely and secluded lives of the widows. As 1 Kings 17:9 states, God sends Prophet Elijah to the widow of Zarephath, “Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there, for I have commanded a widow there to feed you”. Out of the many people in the temple, Jesus draws his disciples’ attention to the offering of an anonymous poor widow. Isolated and excluded as they may be, they are never out of God’s care and accompaniment. When isolation, oppression, and fear threaten to overwhelm us, God breaks into our lives to work a miracle, accompany us in our loneliness, and care for us.

2.  ‘How’ matters more than ‘How much’:

Ironically, in both instances, the widows are called to give. These poor widows, who are themselves in dire need of help, are the ones who donate! The widow of the Gospel offers the little she had to the treasury. It is a difficult call but it is her decision and choice. Things are a little different and even provocative in the first reading. Elijah seems to go about ordering the poor widow for his personal needs. He first asks for a cup of water and then a ‘bit of bread’. The widow’s response is heart-wrenching. She had nothing left but some flour and oil, with which she was preparing a final meal for her son and herself. She says, “When we have eaten it, we shall die”.

Here is a widow preparing her family’s last meal and the prophet is ordering a cake! What matters to God is not the quantity of the widows’ offerings, but the attitude that inspired them to give the little they had. The two coins and the little flour may not cost much, but they cost these widows everything. Their offerings are signs of their total abandonment and dependency on God. Discipleship is not about the size/quantity of our accomplishments but the attitude of trust and surrender that animates our every choice, priority, and decision.

3.  Victims are the new victors: 

The poor widow, who offered two small coins worth a few cents, now becomes the model of generosity for all ages. The widow of Zarephath, who was preparing her final meal, now discovers never-ending life resources in a jar of flour and a jug of oil that did not go empty. In 2 Kings 4, God delivers a widow and her two sons from their debt trap with a never-ending supply of oil. In Luke 7, Jesus transforms the desolation of a widow at her son’s funeral procession by bringing him back to life.

God’s intervention in the lives of these widows brings them new hope, never-ending resources, guaranteed freedom, and renewed life. God transforms victims into victors in their concrete life experiences. His interventions are therapeutic and transformative. They challenge established norms and social stratifications of victims and victors. May the model of the two widows of this Sunday’s liturgy inspire us to welcome God’s radical entry points into our lives and courageously surrender ourselves to his miraculous transformation.