Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This word is wonderful, and there are several small things that helped me this week. First, is seeing that Jesus is watching those who are pouring money into the treasure. Jesus is looking at you today because to look is to love. You look at what you love. If you love your wife, you look at her. If there is a fight or a major disagreement, you don’t look at her or even talk to her, correct? If you love your girlfriend, you can look at her the whole day. When you marry her, you may not look at her as much as you did when she was your girlfriend. We look at what we love. If one loves money, he looks at it, he counts it, it doesn’t matter if it is not his money. We still love it and, of course, it would be better if it was ours.
Christ looks at us because he loves us, and he wants to see what we are putting into the treasury of the temple. The Lord sees us, not to judge us; he knows what is in our hearts; he knows what is in the heart of this poor widow and he knows what is in the hearts of those rich people who throw a lot, big amounts into the treasure. Probably their donations are more helpful to the temple than the widow’s, but this is not the point. Christ sees the heart of man. He sees your heart today. I don’t know if you are like this widow today. A widow is one whose spouse has died. Maybe you come to the church like this widow so who is your spouse that has died? It is Jesus Christ.
This poor widow has two little coins which are practically nothing, like two pennies that people don’t even pick up from the ground anymore. She is really poor and comes with everything she has to live on. We are like her in the sense that we come as widows or widowers who are poor in the works of eternal life. We come very poor in the habit of chastity; we don’t come with a lot of wealth. The Lord doesn’t ask you to try to be better. The two pennies that you have could also be the love you have for your brother this week or the love of the enemy. It could represent how you spoke well of the others or what you gave to them, which was not much.
Our offering today might be just two little pennies, and the Lord wants them. You can bring the little bit of chastity that you lived this week or the little bit of love for the enemy or the little bit of not resisting evil; it was almost nothing. But the Lord will this little bit of chastity or love of the enemy or non-resistance to evil and he will make something marvelous of those two coins. That poor widow is you and me.
Do you understand what the gospel means? The Lord sees in your heart something wonderful. Jesus Christ has called you to the Church when you were baptized. First, he calls you, then he chooses you before you were born for a wonderful mission. He calls each one of you who is like this widow, a little one. The Holy Spirit inspired someone to see the connection to the early part of the gospel. It says beware of the scribes who like to go around in long robes and take the seats of honor and devour the houses of widows. This widow is fundamentally loving the enemy. As Jesus says elsewhere, when they take what is yours, do not ask for it back. She is casting into the treasury what they took from her. The scribes and high priests and those around the temple that Jesus himself denounces by kicking all of them out.
This widow is loving the enemy, and she gives all that she has to live on. But the Greek text says something different. It says she gave ‘all her life’. She gives her life as Christ gave his for love of you and me. What a marvel this word is; it is amazing. This great woman who does not resist evil; she gives her whole life. She is like the woman in the first reading. Elijah says something very bold to that widow who says, ‘I have very little and I was going to make something for me and my son and then we will die.’ But Elijah says, ‘Don’t be afraid, do and do as you say, but first make me a little cake and bring it to me, then prepare something for yourself and your son… the jar will not go empty, not the jug of oil run dry. ’
Seek the kingdom of God, look for the kingdom and all else will be given to you. The logic of God is contrary to human logic. When we have a little, we say, keep it, but God’s logic is the opposite. Give the little that you have and the Lord will give you so much more, which is his love.
May the Lord give us through the example of this poor widow who went to the temple and gave away the little that she had, the courage to do the same. Today, brothers and sisters, we bring to this altar those two insignificant coins, our sins, our poverty, our tiny achievements, which are nothing and the Lord does something wonderful with them. He does this because he sees what is in your heart.
Here there are rich people, there are also arrogant ones, there are those who think they are good and can give away a lot. They come to the temple and say, thank you, Lord, because I am wonderful, not like this poor publican, who represents this poor widow. He dared not even raise his eyes because he had nothing but two little coins, his sins. And he said, Lord, have mercy on me for I am a sinner.