King Ahab was the king of the northern
kingdom in Ancient Israel. He and his
people had strayed very far from their faith in God, even taking up the worship
of false idols. The prophet Elijah was
raised up by God in order to confront King Ahab and to speak the truth as a
spokesperson for God. As a part of this
prophetic undertaking, God sent Elijah on a journey, providing for all of
Elijah’s needs. The reading from 1 Kings for the Monday of the 10th week in ordinary time told of
how the ravens brought him food out in the wilderness. Then God sent him to a poor widow and her
son; they were on the brink of starvation themselves. Yet, through Elijah, God provided the miracle
of producing an endless supply of food from a small quantity of flour found in
a jar.
We can help God provide such miracles of
multiplying food today. I think of how
so many of the poor people I served in the jungle while I was a missionary in
Ecuador used to bring me food from the little they had. We have our staff and our volunteers here in the parish who help out in the kitchen, whether it be to provide a welcoming meal for those
attending a funeral, for the meal after the first Friday masses, or for a special function we have as a parish. One thing we do need is more volunteers to help with that here at our parish. We need to realize that God
can call us to perform these miracles for him, helping us provide food for
others from the little that we have. The
widow believed Elijah, to use that little bit of flour to feed him, having
faith that there will be more. Do we
have that kind of faith as well?
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