Homily 515 | 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time | Year B
Student pilots are taught early on to deal with inflight emergencies. My flight instructor was always reaching over and turning the engine off in the middle of flight to see what I would do. Contrary to what non-pilots might think, a plane does not fall out of the sky like a rock when the engine goes out. It just becomes a glider. You’re definitely going down and might have to land “off airport,” but it’s no reason to panic. One of most important phrases you will hear is, “Fly the airplane.”
I thought of this training in light of the widows we see in today’s readings. The widow in the first reading is in a real emergency. She’s down to her last meal and things look hopeless. But notice what she’s doing. She’s not panicking and she’s not sitting around depressed. If she’s only got one meal, then she’s going to cook that meal. There’s not a lot she can do, like an airplane with no engine. But if she’s going down, she’s going to fly all the way down. Her last act is going to be to cook the best meal she can before she dies.
Our widow in the gospel who puts in her two small coins normally gets attention for the sacrificial nature of her gift. I would like to draw attention to her for also continuing to do the best she can right up until the end. Jesus seems to imply that she’s down to her last two coins. Why would she put them in the treasury? I’m guessing she had developed that habit over a lifetime of giving to God and trusting. Like the widow in the first reading, when she’s coming to the end, she doesn’t panic. She does what she’s practiced over and over. She gives the last that she has to God. She flies the airplane.
Dealing with suffering in life, especially unexpected emergencies, is one of life’s most important skills. When everything seems to be going wrong, what do you do? It’s tempting to want to give up and despair. No pilot would do that. What’s the next best thing you can do? Don’t worry about tomorrow or the next day, just one day at a time. What can you do right now today? Oftentimes a crisis is just temporary. An emergency can be resolved. But even if you’re sure you’re going down, you are still in control of what you choose to do next. No matter what is happening or what you think will happen, always fly the airplane.