1 Kgs 17:10-16 | Ps 146 | Heb 9:24-28 | Mk 12:38-44 or 12:41-44

One of the most difficult lessons we teach young children is to share. The reason is simple. Sharing requires a sacrifice. For children who are asked to share a toy, the sacrifice is usually viewed as quite manageable—at least from their parent’s perspective—because the children are seldom required to give up their plaything entirely.

(Unless you happen to be Christina, Joan Crawford’s adopted daughter in Mommy Dearest). No Mother of the Year awards there: when at Christmastime, she asks her, "Christina, which doll is your favorite?" "This one!" she indicates. "Then, that's the one you'll give away!"

Normally, kids are expected to forgo playing with their toy for a brief period of time while someone else takes a turn, and then they get it back. From the child’s perspective, however, the sacrifice is often viewed as flawed, because it seems as though they are the only ones who are ever asked to share (especially if you’re the oldest). And when they share, it’s usually only under the threat of consequences or the promise of a treat, and they do so begrudgingly.

The readings for today speak about the importance of sharing in the Christian life, and they ask us a simple question. Will we look at sharing from the parent’s perspective, and see a reasonable request to honor our relationships, or will we look at sharing with the eyes of a child, and see an unacceptable imposition?

Quite clearly, the readings push us to share with a generous heart and encourage us to see sharing from a parent’s point of view. The first reading recounts the story of the widow of Zarephath, who is asked to share when the prophet Elijah shows up with an empty stomach. Evidently suffering herself, the widow explains that she’s down to her final provisions and is already expecting to die when her food runs out. Elijah’s request therefore requires the ultimate sacrifice from her, for he essentially asks her to give up her last meal and to head to her grave with her son.

This is not the temporary relinquishment of a child’s plaything; Elijah isn’t merely going to “take a turn and give it back.” Yet despite the enormity of the request, the widow doesn’t hesitate. “She left and did as Elijah had said,” without any fear or malice because she had faith that God would provide.

Now, the widow of Zarephath was, in fact, repaid for her generosity as her jar of flour and jug of oil remained perpetually filled. Thus, her sacrifice was much closer to the sacrifice parents expect their children to make when playing with their friends, but she could hardly have known this when the request was uttered.

She should have balked like an average toddler at the demand to share, but she didn’t. Rather, she saw herself as a child of God, and looked at the call to share through the eyes of her heavenly parent, trusting that it wasn’t an unreasonable request, but an opportunity for growth. She showed us how to share.

The gospel underscores this message from the first reading. Again we see a “poor widow” who gives “all she had, her whole livelihood” to the Lord. Jesus, witnessing this radical act of faith, calls his disciples and commends the widow’s generosity to them, proclaiming, “This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury.” She adopted the perspective of a parent, and therefore shared without hesitation. The rich, however, could see only through the eyes of a grumpy child, and refused to give except from what they no longer needed.

As the gospel demonstrates, the widow’s approach reflects Jesus’ own model of sharing, for he shared his whole life, to the point of suffering and death, in order “to take away sin by his sacrifice.” As both widows show, those who follow Jesus are called to share with the same benevolence, trusting that the costs our parent or guardian asks us to accept are never too much to bear.

Lest we romanticize the sacrifices of the widows, however, there’s also an important undercurrent in today’s readings that puts our responsibility to share in its proper perspective.

According to the law of Moses, widows were supposed to be cared for from the shared generosity of the community. Logically, then, if those listening to the story of the widow of Zarephath or witnessing the widow in the temple had taken their responsibility to share seriously, neither of these stories would have taken place, for the system of shared responsibility was designated to ensure that there would never be a poor widow in all of Israel!

The widows’ acts, while exceptionally admirable, are also a rebellious criticism of everyone else’s failure to share. The only way to honor their sacrifices is to do our part to share not just when we have more than we need, but whenever we see someone in need.

However difficult, if we trust our Heavenly Parent, you and I will be able to act as the children of God are expected to behave.