Salt and light: on the one hand that is what we are as Christians. On the other hand, we must willingly be that for the world. If we live with faith, hope and love we are salt and light for the world. If we do not, we place that light under a basket, and the salt loses its savor. The widow in today’s first reading is prepared to die and have her last act on earth be charity towards Elijah the prophet. She had planned to use the last of her resources on the bread she and her son would share before they would die of starvation. The man of God asks her to offer him a little cake first, with no promises attached. Give to God first, then see to your own plans for survival. The Lord has created us, He holds our lives in His Hands. If the time has come for our departure from this world, why would we refuse the obedience of charity?
Monday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
AMBROSE:
Great is the virtue of fasting; in short so splendid is the warfare that it delighted even Christ to fast; and so mighty that it raised people to heaven. And, that we may use human rather than divine examples, a word sent from the fasting mouth of Elijah closed heaven to the sacrilegious people of the Jews. For when an altar had been set up to an idol by Ahab, at the word of the prophet for three years and six months dewy rain did not fall on the earth. A worthy punishment fittingly to check insolence, that heaven should be closed to the impious who had polluted the things of earth! It was also right that a prophet, for the condemnation of a sacrilegious king, was sent to a widow in Zarephath of Sidonia, who, since she preferred piety to food, merited that she alone should not feel the distress of the general drought. And so the “urn of barley meal did not fail” when the water of the torrent failed. Why should I present the rest of this history? While fasting he raised the widow’s son from the dead, while fasting he brought down rain at his word, while fasting he drew down fire from heaven, while fasting he was snatched in a chariot to heaven, and by a fast of forty days he gained the presence of God. Then finally, he deserved more when he fasted more. With fasting mouth he caused the waters of the Jordan to stand, and with dusty footsteps he passed over the channel of the overflowing stream suddenly become dry. The divine will judged him to be just and worthy of heaven, so that with his very body he was snatched up, since he lived the heavenly life in the body and exemplified on earth the manner of living above.
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel we see why Jesus talks about it being difficult for a rich person to be saved. We are frequently focused on the amount of things, of goods, or of money. Jesus wants us to understand that so long as we focus on the way our lives and actions appear we cannot grasp our true trajectory. Where we are headed depends on the disposition of our heart, our intentions, what we choose to value. Even the one who is exteriorly poor may end up anxious and worried about tomorrow if they are not poor in spirit. Generosity with the goods of this world must be responsible and unselfish – and that can only come from a heart that trusts in God more than in wealth. The problem with material goods is how we come to cling to them, rely on them, and get our sense of security from them.