Widows and Orphans

Why widows and orphans? Why is God so specific about taking care of widows and orphans? We hear it during our Liturgy, and we see it in the Bible; most clearly in James 1:27. So I don’t know, this whole idea kind of bothered me. Why don’t we say “take care of people who need help” or “take care of the homeless, jobless, lonely, sick”? I mean really, at first glance, widows and orphans aren’t really at the bottom of the barrel. Assuming they’re not homeless, jobless, lonely, or sick. Because then I’d feel pretty bad. So what is it? Why widows and orphans?

I started thinking about sacraments. Or more specifically, I started thinking about marriage. In our beautiful church, marriage is more than white dresses and fancy rings. It’s about two people literally becoming one person. Ok, maybe not literally physically; but spiritually, yes. When you read about marriage in the Bible, it says that a man (or woman) will leave their parents, and join their spouse. At which point, the two are “cleaved” together. Yes, cleaved. It’s a word used to describe the relationship between muscle and bone.

Ok, so then what? P.S. this is how my brain works; in very logical increments. I can only understand concepts in the format “1+2+3+4…” I’m either the dumbest person I know or the most computer-like person I know. Sorry, back to the point. So next I thought, “ok, so if widows were married once, and their spouse dies, it’s like they lost half of themselves.” Now besides being really sad at that thought, I considered maybe since children are to be with their parents before marriage, that maybe parents are the other halves to their children. If you think about the sacrament of baptism, parents actually take an oath to lead their children to Christ. To basically be their supervisors, or celebrity agents, or AA sponsors. Pick whichever analogy is most ridiculous.

So if widows are missing their counterpart to Christ, and if kids are missing theirs, too…then I would say those widows and orphans really need some taking care of. Maybe not so much in a worldly way (although I’m sure it couldn’t hurt), but in a spiritual way. In an accountability way. No one’s checking on them. No one’s asking if they read their Bible or went to church. Heck, no one’s even taking them TO church. No one’s really taking the time to make sure these people have Christ in their lives. We’ve all just assumed that someone has someone’s back.

I think that’s why God wants us to take care of widows and orphans. Because they’re missing half of themselves, and we’re fortunate enough to not know what that feels like.