"Give us this day our daily bread." We pray this phrase all the time. Many of us pray it daily, more than once a day. This phrase from the Lord's Prayer is an admission of our dependency on God to give us what we need to sustain ourselves. In short, these words, when prayed sincerely, are an act of trust in God, whom, through Jesus Christ and in the Spirit's power, we can call "Father."
Trust, as in recognizing one's dependency, is borne from need.
In our reading today from First Kings, Elijah is led to the house of a "pagan" (i.e., non-Israelite) widow. Her status as non-Israelite is revealed when she says to the prophet, in response for his request for something to eat, "As the LORD your God lives I have nothing baked (1 Kings 17:12- italics mine). Nonetheless, despite only having enough to feed herself and her son for just that day, she agrees to prepare food for the famished man of God. She does this in the realization that once she offers this hospitality, her larder will be empty. She speaks her fear: that she and her son will die.
Her hospitality is exemplary. She is willing to give everything to help a hungry and thirsty person who asks her for something to eat and drink, even during a drought and resulting famine. Not just a hungry man, but a hungry foreigner, an Israelite, and a strange one at that. Note that it is not until after she agrees to provide the prophet food and drink that he promises she will have flour, oil, and water until the drought-induced famine ends.
It is also important to note how Elijah's promise was realized: day-by-day, not all at once. This widow of Zarephath did not miraculously come into possession of 1,000 pounds of flour, 20 gallons of oil, and 500 gallons of water. It seems that each day, there was enough flour, oil, and water for that day.
Give us this day our daily bread.
A few chapters on from our second reading in the Letter to the Hebrews, in the letter's (which is really a long sermon) final chapter, these Jewish Christians are exhorted: "Let your life be free from love of money but be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never forsake you or abandon you'" (Hebrews 13:5). The quoted words in this verse are likely from the Book of Deuteronomy (Deut 31:6). Trust in God for your daily bread. This also poses a question: In what or in whom do you place your trust? At the beginning of this same chapter, these ancient Christians are reminded: "Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels" (Hebrews 13:2)- or prophets!
There is no doubt that the widow in today's Gospel, who Jesus commended for giving from her poverty and not surplus, like the widow of Zarephath, placed her trust in the LORD our God. She placed everything she had in God's trust. Notice, too, her example is wordless. Its wordlessness is what makes her example so eloquent.
Who do you think it is that eagerly awaits Christ's return? It is the poor who place their trust in God. Being poor in spirit means nothing other than to place your trust in God. Time and time again, Jesus teaches that one's wealth, one's worldly possessions, present the greatest obstacle to God's kingdom. In an effort to deflect, we try to make it about everything or anything else. But this only reveals that we place not only our trust but our hope in the world and all that it offers us.
Throughout much of the developed world, Christians have lost the importance of ascesis. Of the three fundamental spiritual disciplines: prayer, fasting, and alms-giving, fasting, which is fasting from food (we try to fast from everything but food!), is rarely practiced. Abstinence, which means giving up certain enjoyable foods (i.e., meat and dairy), is also rarely practiced with regularity. But I digress... It is fasting that integrates, incarnates, prayer and alms-giving.
Trust, which requires you to acknowledge your dependency, is borne from need. Trusting God means recognizing your poverty, your need. When I see someone in need, my need is reflected back to me, which one reason why such encounters leave us a little shaken- There but for bad luck go I.
In an individualistic, cash-driven, fast-paced, competitive society, it's difficult to trust in God. Despite our seeming affluence, many of us aren't that far away from destitution. Keep in mind, too, that death is the final povert: memento mori.
Because these readings tend to make us uncomfortable, it is not uncommon to see preachers attempt to de-radicalize them. Maybe chuck a few more bucks in the direction of the local food pantry or Catholic Community Services, at least until the pangs of conscience subside. Today's readings make me uncomfortable. Hence, as another passage earlier in the Letter to the Hebrews tells us, they're doing their job (Hebrews 4:12-13).
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