St. Vincent de Paul Spiritual Reflection February 2015

 

1 KINGS, Chapter 17

After some time, however, the wadi ran dry, 
because no rain had fallen in the land. 

So the word of the LORD came to Elijah: 
Arise, go to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. 
I have commanded a widow there to feed you. 

He arose and went to Zarephath. 
When he arrived at the entrance of the city, 
a widow was there gathering sticks; 
he called out to her, 
“Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” 

She left to get it, and he called out after her, 
“Please bring along a crust of bread.” 

She said, “As the LORD, your God, lives, I have nothing baked; 
there is only a handful of flour in my jar and 
a little oil in my jug. 
Just now I was collecting a few sticks, 
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; 
when we have eaten it, we shall die.”

Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. 
Go and do as you have said. 
But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. 
Afterwards you can prepare something for yourself and your son. 

For the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 
The jar of flour shall not go empty, 
nor the jug of oil run dry, 
until the day when the LORD sends rain upon the earth.” 

She left and did as Elijah had said. 
She had enough to eat for a long time —
he and she and her household. 

The jar of flour did not go empty, 
nor the jug of oil run dry, 
according to the word of the LORD spoken through Elijah. 

 

Reflection:

Both Elijah and the widow act with unquestioning faith. For Elijah, he cannot know how or from where the nourishment shall come, only that the Lord had “commanded a widow to feed (him)”. For the widow, the act of faith is an even greater leap. On the edge of starvation, a stranger assures her that the Lord God has promised the supplies shall not run out.

 

Vincentian Meditation:

This passage reminds us of two fundamental components of our service. One, that we should always ‘keep the faith’ in the Lords promise to provide. Our individual wealth, possessions and assets are entrusted to us to do his works – as demonstrated by the widow in sharing what little she had with a complete stranger. Two, that as Vincentian’s we are to bring the light of hope and the nourishment from the promise of salvation to each person in need we meet.

So many people in need live lives driven by fear. Our mission is to share the words spoken by Elijah in this passage and often conveyed by The Christ, Jesus – “Do not be afraid”.

> Download/Open this reflection as a .docx file