Today's readings: 1 Kings 17, 10-16; Hebrews 9, 24-28; Mark 12, 38-44.

In deepening the Scriptures, the prophet Elijah and Jesus are often brought together. Elijah appears at times as the prophet of anger, fierce, uncompromising. But in tragic moments, as we read today and as Elie Wiesel writes of him, he is "a poet's dream, a philosopher's challenge". He represents the impossible but necessary hope.

The miraculous multiplication of flour and oil which Elijah promises to the widow and obtains, is to be seen in the context of the conflict with Baal and the kings of Samaria. Elijah attacks Baal on his own territory in an attempt to save faith in the true God from being shipwrecked. Elijah's prophecy came true, and the three-year drought brought hunger to the land and the people. He left his hiding place and found refuge with a widow whom God had ordered to feed him; she was rewarded and never ran out of food.

Jesus places himself in this same line of prophetic tradition, warning the disciples to beware of the Scribes' religious exhibitionism. Elijah and Jesus both challenge this form of idolatry and they speak loud and clear on this even to us today. With both Elijah and Jesus, there is the dawn of new times when God's real and prophetic presence would be made manifest, not in man-made sanctuaries, as the letter to the Hebrews reminds us.

There is an intimate connection between the widow of Zaraphath at the time of Elijah and the widow Jesus is admiring. The two widows in today's readings, though in different settings, both manifest the religion of the impossible, the assurance on the part of God that, against all appearances, He is faithful. They are widows and, by default, emarginated. And in the biblical narrative this is a focal point. But we are at a point in time when our way of doing politics and managing change is running out of ideals. It is here that prophecy comes in.

Gustavo Gutierrez, the Peruvian theologian of liberation, writes: "The poor are not, in the first instance, questioning the religious world or its philosophical presuppositions. They are calling into question first of all the economic, social, and political order that oppresses and marginalises them, and of course, the ideology that is brought in to justify this domination."

People seldom feel inspired today by what is happening in the world, where the current global economy precipitates situations that push people out of their homelands. Migration flows tend to move in a south-to-north direction, not so much because people want to become rich but because many are seeking just to survive and live beyond the minimal exigencies of daily needs, writes Daniel Groody, a theology professor and award-winning author and film producer.

The widow in today's Gospel may be taken both as a model to be imitated for her complete trust, having put in the treasury "everything she possessed", and as someone who is victim of social and religious exploitation. Whereas the Scribes are ostentatious and devious, she is hardly noticed.

We may wonder what Jesus felt about the faith of people such as this poor widow donating a few pence in the temple. We may also wonder whether Jesus felt grateful for the faith of such simple people, and whether he said to himself, like Archbishop Romero: "With these people it's not hard to be a good shepherd."

This is what we may call the mystery of the poor. The world of the poor confronts us with a mystery, but in turn, they themselves express a mystery. These two widows today are the symbol and representation of the gentle call to faith. They both provide proof of great generosity and trust. But they both serve as living sanctuaries where prophecy comes true and from where God's faithfulness shines forth.