Widows & orphans

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Justin_Mary

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For the longest time I’ve been thinking widows & orphans literally meant widows & orphans. God wants us to empathize with & help widows & orphans. & I believe everything in this life points to something in the next.

So widows & orphans mean those who do not believe. They have no God (Father/Husband… Mother (the Church)).

Anyway, it’s always been in the back of my mind. I’ve never heard much mention of it in that context.

@midori posted this in another thread.
midori said:
I, Daniel, should discover by the reading of old records, how to compute the seventy years of Jerusalem’s widowhood?
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I’ve also been thinking about St Therese & St Mother Teresa’s desire to win souls for Christ. Orphans & widows.

& I’ve been praying been praying the Litany of Our Lady of Mt Carmel which is a prayer for conversions… orphans & widows.

Anyway, it’s not a fully thought out idea. Just thinking out loud.
 
There are usually different angles and layers to statements in the Bible.

Helping literal widows and orphans, physically and emotionally, is also very important, particularly at the time of the Scriptures where there was no government safety net for these people, so if they didn’t happen to have a relative to care for them or be somehow independently wealthy (which the inheritance laws could make difficult), they needed help.
 
Justin_Mary said:
For the longest time I’ve been thinking widows & orphans literally meant widows & orphans.
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It does. There is also deeper significance, however, we are commanded to care for those who are in greatest need.
 
Ruth tells the story of David’s grandmother and what happened to her when she was widowed. It gives a good sense of the social consequences of death in those days.

Ruth was also a “stranger in the land”, a third group we are called to support along with widows and orphans.
 
TheLittleLady said:
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Justin_Mary:
For the longest time I’ve been thinking widows & orphans literally meant widows & orphans.
Click to expand...
It does. There is also deeper significance, however, we are commanded to care for those who are in greatest need.
Click to expand...
@Justin_Mary I have my doubts on the figurative reading…Because orphans and widows are without someone to defend them, whilst none believes aren’t abandoned by God.

And from what I’ve seen, orphans and widows really lack massive amounts of protection and help - that can’t be compared to someone that simply isn’t practicing religion.
 
adgloriam said:
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TheLittleLady:
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Justin_Mary:
For the longest time I’ve been thinking widows & orphans literally meant widows & orphans.
Click to expand...
It does. There is also deeper significance, however, we are commanded to care for those who are in greatest need.
Click to expand...
@Justin_Mary I have my doubts on the figurative reading…Because orphans and widows are without someone to defend them, whilst none believes aren’t abandoned by God.
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Two questions.
  1. Do you believe that widows and orphans are abandoned by God.
  2. Didn’t non-believers abandon God?
And from what I’ve seen, orphans and widows really lack massive amounts of protection and help -
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True.
that can’t be compared to someone that simply isn’t practicing religion.
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It can, in a spiritual sense.

Ezekiel 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Apparently, God wants us to help the wicked (i.e. non-believer).
 
“Orphans” - Jesus said He would not leave us orphans - the Holy Spirit! Those without belief and who lack the indwelling of the Spirit are orphans in the truest spiritual sense.
 
De_Maria said:
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adgloriam:
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TheLittleLady:
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Justin_Mary:
For the longest time I’ve been thinking widows & orphans literally meant widows & orphans.
Click to expand...
It does. There is also deeper significance, however, we are commanded to care for those who are in greatest need.
Click to expand...
@Justin_Mary I have my doubts on the figurative reading…Because orphans and widows are without someone to defend them, whilst none believes aren’t abandoned by God.
Click to expand...
Two questions.
  1. Do you believe that widows and orphans are abandoned by God.
  2. Didn’t non-believers abandon God?
And from what I’ve seen, orphans and widows really lack massive amounts of protection and help -
Click to expand...
True.
that can’t be compared to someone that simply isn’t practicing religion.
Click to expand...
It can, in a spiritual sense.

Ezekiel 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Apparently, God wants us to help the wicked (i.e. non-believer).
Click to expand...
Ok.

The wicked I’ve come across the last years didn’t mend their ways NOT for lack of my warning.

Although I have been giving myself a bit of a break, I still tend to evangelize and give testimony - when the situation and person so allows and there’s some sense to it. And, the OT prophets should be read with a grain of salt. Otherwise, fire and brimstone would have come raining down on the countless wicked and godless I’ve met, and those seem to be doing rather alright (should disaster ever befall them I’ll be here to fulfil my obligations the best I can).

Then, no. I don’t believe widows and orphans were abandoned by God. I do believe that one way or another they find themselves alone and in a terrible ordeal. I do believe on the day of judgement my works of mercy towards them will weigh especially heavily in my favor - so covering a multitude of my sins.
 
adgloriam said:
Ok.

The wicked I’ve come across the last years didn’t mend their ways NOT for lack of my warning.
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And therefore, we are to believe that no wicked person will ever change his ways?
Although I have been giving myself a bit of a break, I still tend to evangelize and give testimony - when the situation and person so allows and there’s some sense to it. And, the OT prophets should be read with a grain of salt. Otherwise, fire and brimstone would have come raining down on the countless wicked and godless I’ve met, and those seem to be doing rather alright (should disaster ever befall them I’ll be here to fulfil my obligations the best I can).
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But you won’t preach nor lead them to Christ, because the wicked don’t change.
Then, no. I don’t believe widows and orphans were abandoned by God. I do believe that one way or another they find themselves alone and in a terrible ordeal. I do believe on the day of judgement my works of mercy towards them will weigh especially heavily in my favor - so covering a multitude of my sins.
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So, basically, you believe that God put you here to help widows and orphans, but not to lead the wicked to salvation?
 
Again, no.

@De_Maria I speak to whoever listens and makes dialogue possible. Then, sometimes, it’s obvious no evangelizing can be done, and the only real possibility is using mercy and charity.

I also place high requirements on giving testimony. A knowledgeable priest told me:“That’s the last thing. First become friends with them, to see if you can do that much. If you can, then afterwards preach.”

It’s also an exercise of humility and patience. What if the person doesn’t want to listen to you?? Well, if God respects their freedom so should I. Conversion comes from on high, at most I can be an unworthy instrument, at worst I can have a counter-productive effect coming across as some sort of fundamentalist or fanatic.

And, lastly, I’m so in love with God and doctrine, that it’s sometimes hard to give it a rest and just have a normal idiotic conversation letting doctrine aside. Because, there’s some art and merit to that also.

Imagine, what if I feel like talking about God?? Then there’s also some restraint and self-denial to be exercised there. Least I end up catering to my own wants under the false pretext of evangelizing.

Love your writing @De_Maria, I didn’t get a chance to engage you last time we came across each other on CAF.
 
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It’s an and/both like so much in our faith, and like man himself, who is body and spirit.

Jesus said feed the hungry, but He also said man does not live by bread alone, but on every word from God. Therefore, not just physical food is necessary, but we must also seek and share the fullness of God’s revealed truth, which His Church hands on and spreads. Likewise, He said those that eat His flesh and drink His blood will never hunger or thirst. As such, gathering those into the unity of faith and charity, His Church, so they may partake of His Body and Blood without “eating and drinking judgment” on themselves is as important as providing physical food and water. The sick and imprisoned are also those who are weighed down and imprisoned by sin. The naked are those who have not girded their loins with truth or put on the breastplate of righteousness or the helmet salvation. They are like those without shelter when the floods come. All those must be gathered safely into the house of the Lord, His Church, which is built on the rock. These are as important as their physical counterparts and even more lasting.
 
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It’s possible that Jesus was using words that would invoke a familiar message by using widows and orphans. Or not. Whether it is or isn’t, you made a connection and it’s not a bad one.
 
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