Reading
Luke 21:1-4
1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
Comment
The Lord raises his eyes; he scrutinizes us and knows us (Ps 139:1) and observes how much we are willing to give. We have not all received the same goods on this earth. Our finances may be limited, and some of us are in a state of extreme need, such as this woman without a husband who, by giving everything has, effectively put "her whole life" (gr. ton bion on eiken) back into the hands of God.
The widow of this evangelical episode, by giving the only two coins she possesses, forgets about her own needs. Our physical or inner resources may also be in short supply. Yet the eyes of the Lord, which do not look superficially but deeply into the heart of man, evaluate how much we are capable of giving not of the superfluous but of the necessary. What appears small and of little importance is often what makes the difference.
A gift that can go completely unnoticed by "religious leaders" and great benefactors, who often mask their human poverty behind reassuringly imposing constructions.
In her absolute gift, the widow shows that she has assumed poverty and the insecurity of her own status as an occasion for voluntary abandonment to God, the one who dresses the lilies of the field (Mt 6:28), just as she dresses the poor of all sorts with his blessing. This is the poverty that Jesus calls blessed (Lk 6:20), not the social injustice and misery that must be fought. Extraordinary confidence often hides behind the gift of two coins, which go unnoticed in the eyes of men.
Prayer
Make us courageous, o Lord, to give generously what we have and what we are; in the trust that your blessing can produce fruits of grace for our neighbor and for us. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
