The Widow's Two Mites: Gustave Dore Aprx. 1866-70
This reflection was inspired by the Sunday Mass readings on Sunday November 8th 2009
1 Kings 17:10-16
Mark 12:41-44
Although the miracles of Jesus are in no way ordinary, when we read of them we usually expect something to change. A leper is made clean, a deformed arm grows, a fever breaks, and the possessed regain sanity and society. We seldom think about miracles where appearances remain constant such as the sun standing still for Joshua and the Israelites (Joshua 10:12-14) or a bush burning but is not consumed by the fire (Exodus 3:1-3). Such miracles Jesus is able to do with only two mites. He can sustain them for a miraculously long time because in heavenly terms a gift of total commitment is richness indeed. Both widows in both readings contribute their whole livelihood as Christ gives up his entire self. Such is the gift of the Eucharist. It’s a gift of Jesus’ total commitment as he is fully there, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. And it is a gift we receive with the total commitment of faith.
To those poor souls without the gift of faith the Eucharist appears ordinary, yet if the Church has taught you that Christ is present, veiled beneath the appearance of bread and of wine then you know that it is a miracle of miracles. Just as daily the measure of flour did not change for the widow, her son and Elijah, so too the appearances (or accidents) of the Eucharist do not change even though the substance does. This, apart from the presence of Christ, is a miracle. Think about it, when water turns to steam we see the change in its form and form is lesser than substance. Since substance is greater than form and since we can sense a change in form, wouldn’t we naturally expect to be able to sense a change in substance? So the fact that the appearances remain constant is a miracle.
Another way that the Eucharist is a constant miracle is in its potency no matter how small the piece it is broken into. Like the widow’s two mites which were tiny but potent, the tiniest piece of the Eucharist is 100% potent… it is 100% Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus.
The Eucharist is also constant in the respect that it is perpetual sacrifice and is always, somewhere in the world being offered.
It is constant in the respect that the Mass is the same no mater where in the world that you go (despite the sometimes less than subtle liberties often taken). The words of consecration, though they may be translated into vernacular are the same everywhere and throughout history since the Senegal.
The Eucharist truly is a constant miracle.
