Dear Friends,
Pepe and Rose were homeless people in Rochester in the
1980’s. Pepe was Sicilian, a burly, bushy-bearded man. Rose, his sweetheart,
was fair and Irish, complete with a lilting accent. Somehow, they found their way to Saint
Mary’s Church, and once they saw that we were hospitable, they came every Sunday. After they had been there a year or two, the
parish began raising funds for the renovation of our worship space. One Sunday,
after the 8:30 Mass, Pepe pressed a dirty, crumpled up dollar bill into my
hand. “This is for the renovation”, Pepe announced with Rose’s smiling
approval. “ Oh, Pepe,” I countered, “couldn’t you use it for a meal this week?”
But Pepe would have no part of it. I could see that thanks were the only proper
response. On the day the church reopened, Pepe and Rose came up the aisle,
their eyes drinking in every detail. I came upon them just as Pepe was saying
to Rose, “Rose, will you look at what we did!”
I never read the
story of the widow feeding the prophet Elijah with her meager store of
ingredients without thinking of Pepe and Rose.
Then there’s the gospel account of the woman whom Jesus sees
walking slowly toward the temple treasury, the smallest Jewish coin in her
hand. She was intent on making her contribution to the temple upkeep.
The unnamed woman was a widow, socially degraded by her
widowhood. This woman was generous beyond her means, unlike the Scribes and
Pharisees whose grasping ways Jesus rejected.
The generous sharing of what we have is no simple matter.
How much of what we have should we share? With whom, why, when and how? There
can also be in us a niggling sense that what we share may be wasted or misused
to build political or religious empires rather than assuage the pain of the
people.
Generosity is not only complex, it requires trust, and trust
means “no assurances.” Take the widow of Zarephath for instance. She had to trust that that using
the last bit of her oil and flour for the prophet would not mean death for her
and her son?
How does one create in oneself an attitude of generosity – a
non-clutching, other-centered way of living?
Look around at what you see and what you hear? Some medical
professionals put their own practices on hold and spend a month or two every
year or so using their skills on behalf of the poor of the Caribbean. Some people I know give away a top or slacks
when they get another. Trevor, a 10 year old in Philadelphia saw on the news
that the homeless in his city had no pillows or blankets. He convinced his Dad
to take him to find someone to give his own pillow and blanket. Then he started
asking his neighbors for their contributions. Before long, the whole city had
caught onto the boy’s generosity.
These examples show how ingenious, how creative people
can be when they take the call to generosity seriously. Their stories are
mirrors through which we can look at our own lives.
For anyone who tries to hear the Word of God and keep it,
the generosity of the widows in today’s readings are a reminder and a promise –
a reminder that what we have is not ours to covet or hoard and a promise that,
in some unspeakable way, the good we have and are will not run out in the
sharing.
~Sister Joan Sobala
