Giving With Compassion And Trust

A Biblical scholar once conducted a survey of people’s reactions to certain stories from the Bible. He noticed that people in underdeveloped countries reacted differently from people like you and I in America. He concludes that people’s experiences affect what they pay attention to as they read. So, let’s take the widow of Zarephath we see in today’s first reading; she is starving! Her son is starving! In fact, it may indeed end in their death. If we’re not careful, because it’s not a part of our own experience, we’ll miss something. Because when a stranger approaches her and asks her for something to eat, she looked him in the face—and did NOT say no. It is difficult to be generous when we have busy schedules and empty checking accounts. Instead of thinking of others, we can find ourselves living a constant state of panic over our perceived lack of resources. Strangely, even the wealthy are not immune to this; those who are well-off often consider themselves “at risk” and spend endless hours worrying over their money. Unlike both widows in today’s readings, they attempt to secure their futures not by sharing but by working harder, investing more and spending less. For the wealthy, their money is not to be shared but to be protected. Ultimately, money becomes their god and, as a result, they never have the opportunity to experience the amazing generosity of the God who takes care of all our needs. Our prayer today is to ask the Lord to give us compassionate trusting hearts.

Deacon Corney

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