Nov-7 Liturgical Study Thirty-Second Sunday
Thirty-Second Sunday in Ordinary time 1 Kings 17:10-16 At Zarephath (town between Tyre and Sidon), Elijah meets a Canaanite widow at perhaps her lowest level of material resources in the midst of a drought/famine. She is gathering firewood to prepare what would be the last meal that she and her son would eat before facing death by starvation. The drought/famine should be seen in the bigger context of the battle of Yahweh versus Baal to see who controls nature, and the widow could be seen as collateral damage in this war. We know that women and children are most acutely affected by disasters and war. According to the laws of hospitality to strangers, the widow brings Elijah water and Elijah imposes an insensitive and even selfish request for bread. And then Elijah ups the ante and asks for cake with a promise that Yahweh would ensure her larder never empties till the rains. In effect Yahweh is replacing her impending death sentence with redemption, if she chooses to believe in Yah...