This week’s reading from I Kings tells of how a widow and her son are miraculously fed for a year after giving food to a man of God, Elijah. This reading prepares us for hearing this same theme (being fed by God) in the New Testament. Figuratively speaking, Jesus fed others in his ministry—culminating in his gift of his presence in the Eucharist. “Breaking bread” at the “table of the Lord” hammers home the idea expressed in today’s Elijah story. That is, God literally feeds the three characters. Even the second reading echoes this same idea. The Letter to the Hebrews gives the only New Testament referring to Jesus as being a high priest. He bridges heaven with earth—a symbolic feeding of our spirit.
The Gospel reading reminded me of my grandmother, and of the national elections that took place this past week. How so? Let me explain—in the hope that what I express might illuminate the varied darkness-es we experience.
With the election this week, what came to mind was that half the population is pleased with the results and half the population is not. Every 2 and 4 years, we turn to the ballot box to produce a winner who will, in turn, make us a winner by producing good legislation. At least, that is what we HOPE will take place. We cast our vote in the hope of helping our lives in some way (even though exit polls show that voters often enough vote AGAINST candidates whose positions would have helped them).
While not an exact parallel, this political ritual reminded me of what anthropologists refer to as “divination.” This refers to the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of a little-known ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners provide some course of action for a person seeking their help. Diviners do this by reading signs, interpreting events, or omens, or through alleged contact or interaction with supernatural agencies such as spirits, gods, god-like-beings or the “will of the universe.” In some ways, elections are a means by which we “throw the dice” on a candidate in the hope that he or she will have the answer to our concern.
My grandmother used to “read tea leaves.” People would come to her and ask for a “reading” that would give them guidance of some kind. She also had “witch cards” that were like a deck of playing cards. She used them, too, in her role as a “diviner.” There are numerous forms of divination found globally. For example, some claim to be able to get information about you by having you urinate in a container, and the bubbles that are produced can provide answers to questions you might have. “Necromancy” is also known as “spiritualism” and refers to contacting the dead. The great magician, Harry Houdini, put an end to this popular practice in the early 20th century. However, it came back in the late 20th century—charlatans able to convince bereaved mourners that their loved one could be contacted (for a price).
Reading fingernails, belly-buttons, dried mud cracks, wrinkles in your forehead, and countless other ridiculous types of divination thrive among us humans. And THAT is why I raise the topic at Mass after election week. All of the different forms of divination are a commentary on our human condition. We are so weak, or fragile, or so insecure that we seek help from all sorts of objects or behaviors that claim to produce the answers to questions brought to the diviner.
My grandmother told me that she had no special knowledge that her tea leaves or witch cards produced. She simply said that she would provide people with vague answers that were upbeat, and that people were satisfied. I’ve attended séances and ancient ceremonies that originated centuries ago in Siberia (that were adopted by American Indian groups). These experiences have made me all the more thankful that I have a sacramental system within the Church that speaks to the diverse highs and lows of everyday life.
Adepts, or practitioners, of divination forms were skilled in making their clientele believe that their activity would meet with success. THAT’S what this past week’s election brought to mind. Elected candidates convinced voters that their election would bring about new answers to old problems. We are like the widow in today’s Gospel reading. We robotically pay our Temple tax because the Scribes and Pharisees convince us that our donation will make life better.
People might think that the Gospel lesson is that we should do as the widow did and pay our last penny to the Temple. But this is NOT the point of the story. Instead, Jesus is chastising both the authorities AND the woman. The former group gets wealthy while the widow puts herself in even worse condition by not resisting the manipulative authorities.
When Jesus walked he earth, it was customary for one to defer to religious authorities and honor them in public, provide them the best seats at banquets, and best seats in the synagogue. These gluttons enjoyed “the good life” while widows were at the bottom of the social ladder. Without a husband to represent their best interest, the widow class was in bad shape. By contrast, the wealthy religious leaders easily paid the Temple tax from their deep pockets while the poor widow made her condition even worse by not resisting their abuse.
I was reminded of today’s disparity of wealth in America when multi-billionaire Elon Musk said that people will have to tighten their belts and sacrifice. Speaking like the politically powerful people who executed Jesus, he called upon Americans to bite the bullet—just as the widow was biting—a behavior that Musk will never have to do. His compadre, Mr. Trump, apparently made Americans believe that he cared about their grocery costs (despite being fined and barred from running a charitable enterprise in the State of New York for running a charity that raised money only for himself). We can be conned into believing anything—so vulnerable we are to deceptions of diverse kinds.
Were it not for being a sad commentary on our human condition, it is humorous that voters re-elected a candidate who had a 41 percent approval rating during his full term — four points lower than any of his predecessors in Gallup’s polling era, which began with Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938. Voters fantasized better times—just like this weekend’s widow who thought her 2 cent donation would work to her advantage. Her story is a stark reminder to us that Jesus was put to death by a power structure that favored the wealthy—the Scribes and Pharisees whose behavior he condemned.
Jesus does not praise but rather laments this woman’s behavior. She has been taught “sacrificial giving” by her religious leaders, and that is the pity. These authorities promised to redistribute Temple collections to the needy. In actuality, they spent the funds on conspicuous consumption instead. I’m reminded of the Ohio congressman who went to office with a life-savings of something like 150 thousand dollars. He is now worth 11 million dollars “serving” his district by voting for tax breaks to the wealthy.