The 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 09, 2013

1 Kings 17:17-24; Gal 1:11-19; Luke 7:11-17

       There are unmistakable parallels between today's first reading and the gospel. In each of the stories there is a widow who is placed in an unbearable situation of losing her only son, there is a miraculous resuscitation, and the return of the son to the mother. The miraculous resuscitation of life in each case leads to recognition that God has acted through an earthly intermediary.

          There are some reasons why those both stories are read to us together.

          It seems as in the New Testament, and particularly in the Gospel according to Luke, Elijah is seen as a forerunner of Jesus. And as a matter of fact Jesus in his inaugural sermon in Nazareth spoke of the work of Elijah citing Elijah's ministry to the widow at Zerephath in particular (4:26).

          Elijah and Jesus were people who spoke and acted for God; both were life-givers in God’s name. They both did not judge, but acted in the ways which was revealing God's universal  love reaching beyond the boundaries of nationality, ethnicity, and even religious affiliation. They both were claiming for life what it seemed to be marked for death. In a sense both widows with the death of their sons were marked for death by their male dominated culture. The difficult thing for many of us to imagine when 40% of mothers in our country is considered as household breadwinners.

          Throughout his ministry, Jesus was a staunch protector of life.

·       He healed those whose lives were burdened by sickness and pain.

·       He forgave sinners whose lives were sad and lonely because their sin alienated them from God and others.

·       He reached out repeatedly to the poor whose lives were broken by their need.

·       He took special care to associate with women and children, whose lives were regarded as the property of their husbands and fathers.

·       He also cared for and challenged the wealthy to entrust their lives to God rather than seek security in their riches.

·       Jesus also called upon the religious leaders to live with integrity before God and their fellow human beings.

          As we look at Elijah and Jesus we easily notice one very important trait of their personalities. Both Elijah and Jesus' words and actions were life giving.

          Our litmus test of being a follower of Christ is administered by ourselves through our words and our actions. We are the followers of Christ only if they are life giving to others .

          And not just for a few ones, whom perhaps we have chosen and selected, by to as many as humanly possible regardless of their nationality, ethnicity, income, education or even religious affiliation.

          Two very interesting examples of what is not life giving, but what unfortunately might fit the realities of our lives, are given by the pope Francis in the last several weeks in his homilies and talks:

1.     Gossip.

2.     Free market economy based solely on the economic principals of Adam Smith when the profit and efficiency become more important than people.

          Perhaps as we ponder the messages of today's Scripture readings we all might pause and do some soul searching in regard to our words and actions particularly when it comes to gossip and our personal way of living out the principals of the free market economy.