The widow's offering

The widow's offering

41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.
 Many rich people threw in large amounts.42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.

43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”

The value is not in how much more we give; but whether we give the amount we are able to give. This is the lesson Jesus teaches us through the Gospel today. Everyone is filled with many capabilities and abilities that can be employed for the good of the others and of the society which one belongs to. It slightly goes hand in hand with last Sunday Gospel that expresses the parable of the talents where we are reminded of the talents that we are provided with and are expected to give it back with proper usage and multiplication.

We must try to give what we think that is beyond our reach or capacity as the widow of today’s Gospel does. One day a disciple asked his teacher, “Teacher, I have much money and I want to get rid of that for the glory of God. What can I do?” The teacher asked him to come after two weeks. And when he returned still he said, “If you give that money to the poor there will not be much fruit; if you give to some friend then too it becomes meaningless; you can’t give me too” and continued saying, “Therefore, I do not know what to say.” But the disciple insisted him that he wanted the money to be taken away from him. Now, the teacher said to him, “I would suggest you better give that money to the poor. At least they will make use of it without wasting time on thinking how to waste.” 

This is what happens most of the time. We blindly perceive the meaning of the Scripture without analyzing it. Money is not evil, it becomes evil from the time we start looking at the money as evil. We must use money for the good of the people who are in need. Yesterday Gospel says, that we have to help others seeing Jesus in them where as we have to help them without we become bankrupt then the next step would be we become receiver. Let us help the neighbor with full heart.