The Poor Widow

Today's Gospel reading:

In his teaching he said, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk about in long robes, to be greeted respectfully in the market squares, to take the front seats in the synagogues and the places of honour at banquets; these are the men who devour the property of widows and for show offer long prayers. The more severe will be the sentence they receive.'

He sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the treasury, and many of the rich put in a great deal. A poor widow came and put in two small coins, the equivalent of a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, 'In truth I tell you, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they could spare, but she in her poverty has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.'

What a strange and captivating Gospel reading it is today. I just noticed it on Catholic Online, an excellent Catholic resource website. Our Lord, it appears is not concerned so much as with how much or what we give, but how much it costs us. Real love, I guess, hurts.

Yet, how could so good a God, who would observe and show even cynicism to the pious religious men who even gave even much of their wealth to the treasury at the synagogue, approve of a poor widow giving everything she had to live on? Yet what she has given, humbly, without going noticed has touched His Sacred Heart, while all the respected religious men leave His heart unmoved. For would He not want her to keep that money for herself, given her poverty? He could have ran over and said, 'Listen, love, you don't have to do that.' But it appears He does not.

The spirituality and faith of the widow has made a deep impression on Our Lord's heart and He wishes the Apostles to take note. Our Lord is not so much interested in a worldly socialist model of wealth redistribution, or even assessing, or taking too much notice of how much the wealthier scirbes have given. He is looking at the hearts of men and women and their faith, their love.

The widow who has given everything, even though she had little, shows her abandonment to God's Providence and her gratitude, which is very real, to God. For the more wealthy scribes it is a religious duty, or a ritual - perhaps they even rival each other in their hearts over how much they give - because they have so much more perhaps. Yet this poor widow possesses now nothing, save for God.

If anyone has a reflection on this reading comment it and I'll post it up. What is Our Lord really trying to say?

The Abbot of Oulton Abbey says...

'Jesus warns us to beware of seeking prominence rather than selfless service: Saint Benedict in his Rule tells us that we are to seek what is good for another rather than for ourselves. The Lord warns us against the desire to seek recognition and esteem from others, Saint Benedict tells that rather than putting ourselves first we should aim to give one another precedence.

The following of Christ involves a reversing of the values of this world. Jesus taught this in a most powerful way when he declared that the poor widow with her two coins had given glory to God because she had put into the treasury everything she had. This is truly the image of Christian dedication: to give without counting the cost.

No matter how limited we might be in our resources, provided that all that we do springs from love of God and neighbour, we can make a rich contribution to furthering the kingdom of God. The currency of that kingdom is not silver and gold but love.'

Abbot Cuthbert Johnson
Liturgical and Monastic subjects from the Chaplain of Oulton Abbey.