Receiving a man of God into your home and heart
1 Kings 17:7-16
The
brook near where Elijah was hiding ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the
land. So the LORD said to Elijah: “Move
on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have designated a widow there to
provide for you.” He left and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance
of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, “Please
bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called
out after her, “Please bring along a bit of bread.” She answered, “As the LORD,
your God, lives, I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my
jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks,
to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we
shall die.” Elijah said to her, “Do not be afraid. Go and do as you propose. But first make me a
little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and
your son. For the LORD, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go
empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the LORD sends rain upon
the earth.’” She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a
year, and Elijah and her son as well; the jar of flour did not go empty, nor
the jug of oil run dry, as the LORD had foretold through Elijah.
One of my
priorities as a priest is going over to parishioners’ homes for supper. I do
that mainly because I don’t cook and I would starve to death otherwise. But I
also do it as a way to get to know my parishioners. It is much easier to get to
know people sitting around their kitchen table. Now, there are some
occupational hazards with going to people’s homes for supper, like not knowing
what they might serve you.
Msgr. Scott
Friend tells the story of visiting a Hispanic family’s home many years ago. He
was just starting to learn Spanish and, as many people do, he simply responded,
“Si, Si, Si!” to their questions, even though he had no idea what they were
saying. Well, as they were sitting down at the table, the family asked if he
would honor them with eating the honorary part of the goat, reserved only for
the most special guests, to which he gladly responded, “Si, Si, Si!” And they
brought him a fully cooked goat’s head on a platter. I’m sure he gave the best
blessing prayer of his life before that meal. But you see, the priestly
presence is powerful: it blesses you, it heals you, it brings you light, it
shows you God’s love and mercy. In other words, at the supper table, the people
feed the priest with a goat’s head, and the priest feeds the people with God’s
grace.
In the first
reading today, we see the prophet Elijah going to someone’s home for supper,
too. It happens to be a poor widow, who is about to eat her last morsel of food
and then she and her son would die. But Elijah has the gall and gumption to ask
her to feed him first! Why? Well, because he knows well that the power of the
presence of a man of God will profoundly bless the widow. Indeed, even though
the entire town Zarephath was suffering from a severe famine, this widow and
her son, thanks to Elijah, had more than enough food to eat. You see, when you
invite a priest or prophet into your home for supper, get ready for beautiful
blessings: the people feed the priest, and the priest feeds the people.
My friends,
let me invite you to considering inviting a priest over to your home for
supper. I know this is not easy for everyone. When I was growing up, we never
invited the priest over for supper. We felt like it was like inviting Jesus
over for supper, and we didn’t believe that our home was worthy. But I am
convinced that anyone who let’s a priest into their home and into their hearts
will be blessed. The priest will bring you some healing for your family, he
will share with you the joy of Jesus, he will impart some wisdom from the
gospel, he will help you to love God a little more and to remember that God
loves you. Wouldn’t that priestly blessing be worth serving him a hamburger or
a hot-dog for supper? Heck, it might even be worth giving him the honored plate
of the goat’s head.
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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