Fr. Michael Williams

I heard the story of a family who went to Mass one Sunday. After Mass Mum complained that the priest went on for far too long with his sermon. And Dad complained that the music group wasn’t very good. And then Mum said that the reader was not very clear either. Then the young son spoke up: ‘I didn’t think it was too bad; and anyway what do you expect for a pound’!

The widow in the gospel had no idea that the Lord of Heaven and earth was observing her. This lady’s humility and charity was pleasing to the Lord. She did not want to be praised by anyone for her good action. She put her two small coins into the temple treasury because it was the right thing to do; she was giving to a noble cause. This reveals something of her character. She was a generous woman, not penny pinching. She was not avaricious or greedy, she was generous. Generosity is one of the virtues we all need to cultivate in our lives. We need to be generous with our time, with our talents and with our resources for the sake of the Kingdom of God. ‘Jesus values the disposition of the giver more than the gift received. He looks not only on the amount given, but into the very heart of the donor (Chrysostom)’.

We can contrast the unassuming widow with some of the scribes who do everything for show. This does not impress the Lord of Heaven and earth one jot. Jesus says these people are using their religion for themselves only; they are using their religion as a means to an immoral end. Financially they may give more than the widow, but they have the wrong motives. The Lord cannot be fooled by this. As he was observing the widow with the correct and humble motives, so He observes the proud of heart and their motives.

Let’s examine our motives. Why are we hear today? Is it because we know we need the Lord and we want to be strengthened by Him and serve our neighbors, or is it because of habit or we’ve got nothing else to do!