In the book of First Kings we read about the great prophets of the Lord, those who were courageous spokespersons for God warning the people not to worship idols and not to obey God. Among these notable prophets is
Elijah and the story of his contest and challenge with the priests of Baal. In the first reading of our liturgy today, we see Elijah expelled by king Ahab in retaliation for the death of many false prophets as well for the prophecies he uttered against Judah because of their apostasies from the true God of Israel.
Thus, the word of God came to Elijah saying, “
Go now to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and live there; for I have commanded a widow there to feed you”. Elijah asked the widow to bring him water in a vessel to drink and a morsel of bread to eat. The widow, though she had only a handful of meal and a little oil in a jug, she believed in the word of Elijah and in the Lord the God of Israel. Because of her belief, the jar of meal and the jug of oil were never emptied.
Imagine how challenging it was for the widow! What about us?
In the Gospel, we are invited to reflect upon the two pillars of our Christian witness of life,
salt and
light. Parallel to them are the two great commandments o,
love of God and
neighbor. Jesus said to his disciples
: “You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world.” Salt and light are two important elements that enable us to build a good relationship with one other. With a good dose of
salt, namely a
sound faith and
balanced wisdom of life, guided by the green light in the right direction, we truly become, all of us, sisters and brothers to one other. Truly by trying to become like
Salt of the earth and
Light of the world, we reach the point that, by our witness of life and walking together in the same direction, we come to create a better world for one another according to the will of God, our creator. The Prophet Jeremiah says: “
I will put my law within them and write in their heart…None of them will have to teach a neighbor to know the Lord, because all will know me, from the least to the greatest…” (See Jeremiah 31:33-34).
After washing the feet of his disciples, Jesus said: “
I have set an example for you, so that you will do just what I have done for you. Wash one another’s feet” (see John 13:14-15). May we follow Christ, our leader, and be examples to one another. Blessings.