1 Kings 17:10-16 / Hebrews 9:24-28 / Mark 12:38-44
One of the annoying and disappointing things to read is the notice with the words “out of stock”, and it is usually written in red capital letters.
And that is usually applied to things that are popular, or even needed, and it is like on almost everyone's “must get” list.
So, when a new handphone model is available, quite quickly it will go out of stock. Well, that can be expected as there is always this craze for new feature-filled gadgets.
But there are also other things that can go out of stock that leaves us quite puzzled.
For example, about a year ago, toilet rolls can go out of stock, and there were pictures circulating around of some people with shopping trolleys that are stacked with packets of toilet rolls.
It seems funny now, but no one was laughing then, and it left us bewildered and frustrated.
It was also around that time when the shelves of the supermarkets were cleaned out of dried and canned food. There was no need to even put the sign “out of stock”. It was obvious enough.
At that time, a few other things were also out of stock, like face masks and handheld thermometers. But that is in good supply now.
Currently, one of the must-have items is the Covid self-test kit. Let us hope that that will not go out of stock.
But seriously, even if certain things can really go out of stock for a while, yet it must also be remembered that there is enough for everyone's need but never enough for everyone's greed.
Greed comes from selfishness, and that is essentially a lack of consideration for other people, and concerned chiefly with one's own personal profit or pleasure.
And selfishness manifest itself most obviously in a time of need, when everyone just wants to think of themselves.
In the 1st reading, the situation was that there was a famine and food was scarce.
When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for some bread, she was already at her last meal and then she and her son will just wait for starvation to overcome them.
But Elijah assured her that God will provide, and so out of her last meagre meal came forth a miracle.
But the widow in the gospel passage did not have such an assurance.
Jesus observed that the two small coins that she put in was all she had, all she had to live on.
There was no further mention of that widow, or where, or when she would get her next meal.
But we believe that God will provide for her, just as God had provided for the widow and her son in the 1st reading.
The gospel message for us is that God sees our actions and knows our motives.
When we give in to greed and selfishness, the world will be poorer, hungrier and sadder.
But it doesn't have to be like that. In fact, we can change that.
It calls for us to have faith In God's providence, that He will give us what we need, because He cares for us.
Yes, God cares for us and He is calling us to care for others by sharing our resources with those in need.
There is always enough for everyone's need but never enough for everyone's greed.
The widow in the 1st reading with her last meal, and the widow in the gospel passage with her last two coins, have shown us this truth:
When we are down to nothing, God will come up with something.
Let us believe that, and God's miracles of generosity and providence will be shown to the world.