SPEAKER_00: One of the most repeated commands of the entire Bible is this do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: We hear it again today in the first reading.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah again arrives in Seraph during a devastating famine.
SPEAKER_00: God has told him that a widow will provide for him.
SPEAKER_00: But when he arrives, the situation looks anything but promising.
SPEAKER_00: He finds a woman gathering sticks, he asks her for water and a little bread.
SPEAKER_00: Her response is heartbreaking.
SPEAKER_00: She tells him she has only a handful of flour and a little oil left.
SPEAKER_00: She's preparing one final meal for herself and for her son.
SPEAKER_00: After that, she expects to die.
SPEAKER_00: Imagine the despair in those words.
SPEAKER_00: This woman has no savings, no safety net, no backup plan, no hope on the horizon.
SPEAKER_00: And into that situation, Elijah speaks the first words that God so often speaks to his people.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: Then comes the difficult part.
SPEAKER_00: Elijah asks her to trust God before she sees the miracle.
SPEAKER_00: He asks her to act in faith before she receives the blessing.
SPEAKER_00: The flower does not multiply first.
SPEAKER_00: The oil does not overflow first.
SPEAKER_00: She must trust first.
SPEAKER_00: And that is usually how God works.
SPEAKER_00: Most of us would prefer the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: We would like God to show us the miracle and then we'll trust him.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, solve this problem and then I'll believe.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be right on board.
SPEAKER_00: Heal this illness, then I'll trust.
SPEAKER_00: I'll see your plan.
SPEAKER_00: Provide the answer, then I will surrender completely.
SPEAKER_00: But faith rarely works that way.
SPEAKER_00: Faith is taking the next step when we cannot yet see the whole staircase.
SPEAKER_00: This widow teaches us something beautiful about trust.
SPEAKER_00: She gives out of her poverty.
SPEAKER_00: She gives when it makes no human sense.
SPEAKER_00: And because she entrusts herself to God, the jar of flour does not go empty and the jug of oil does not run dry.
SPEAKER_00: The miracle begins the moment fear gives way to faith.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if we turn to the gospel, Jesus says something extraordinary.
SPEAKER_00: He says, You are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.
SPEAKER_00: Notice what he does not say.
SPEAKER_00: He does not say, try hard to become salt.
SPEAKER_00: He does not say, maybe one day you'll be the light.
SPEAKER_00: No, he's saying you are.
SPEAKER_00: By our baptism we have been given a mission.
SPEAKER_00: Salt preserves.
SPEAKER_00: Salt gives flavor.
SPEAKER_00: Light drives away darkness.
SPEAKER_00: The Christian is meant to make a difference whenever he or she goes.
SPEAKER_00: Wherever she goes or he goes.
SPEAKER_00: A Christian home should be different because a Christian lives there.
SPEAKER_00: A workplace should be different because a Christian works there.
SPEAKER_00: A parish should also be different because Christians worship together there.
SPEAKER_00: The world should encounter something of Christ through us.
SPEAKER_00: But there's a challenge in today's gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus warns that salt can lose its effectiveness and that light can be hidden.
SPEAKER_00: In other words, disciples can become spiritually bland.
SPEAKER_00: We can become so much like the world that no one can tell the difference.
SPEAKER_00: We can keep our pay our faith private, hidden away, never allowing it to influence how we live.
SPEAKER_00: We can attend mass, we can say our prayers, yet fail to let the gospel shape our decisions, our priorities, our conversations, and our relationships.
SPEAKER_00: The widow in the first reading did not hide her faith.
SPEAKER_00: She acted on it.
SPEAKER_00: And because she trusted God, she became an instrument of God's providence, not only for herself, but also for Elijah.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what disciples do.
SPEAKER_00: They trust God enough to become part of his plan.
SPEAKER_00: Perhaps the connection between these two readings is this the widow teaches us how to trust.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus teaches us why.
SPEAKER_00: We trust God not only so that He can provide for us, but so that He can work through us.
SPEAKER_00: Every one of us knows someone who needs light right now.
SPEAKER_00: Someone who is discouraged, someone who's grieving, someone who's confused, someone who's battling an uphill problem.
SPEAKER_00: The question is whether we will allow Christ's light to shine through us.
SPEAKER_00: The saints did not change the world because they were powerful.
SPEAKER_00: They changed the world because they were available.
SPEAKER_00: They trusted God and they let their light shine.
SPEAKER_00: So today ask yourself two questions.
SPEAKER_00: Where is God asking me to trust him more deeply?
SPEAKER_00: And where is God asking me to be light for someone else?
SPEAKER_00: Because when faith overcomes fear, something remarkable happens.
SPEAKER_00: The flour does not run dry, and the oil does not run out.
SPEAKER_00: The light keeps shining.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.