Word to the Wise
Saturday, June 6, 2009 - Saturday in the NInth Week in Ordinary Time
[Tobit 12:1. 5-15, 20 and Mark 12:38-44]Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury, For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had. her whole livelihood.
There's an old expression in fund raising: "Give till it hurts!" Jesus' comment about the widow is that everyone else gave up to the point that it might start hurting. She gave without a care for hurting. There is an echo here of the widow in the Old Testament who gave her last meal to the Prophet Elisha. Some scripture scholars see a veiled reference on the part of Jesus to the sacrifice that he would soon be making. Others point to the system of taxation that would require a poor widow to make this sacrifice. I think I would want to hope that she did this out of love! Generosity is a wonderful virtue. To be a virtue, however, means that one must go beyond generous behavior to generous motivation as well. Some "generosity" is motivated by hope of a return in kind. The selfless donation can make the recipient a bit uncomfortable because it may be impossible to reciprocate. But that misses the point of the generosity! The discomfort can be turned into inspiration to a similar behavior motivated in the same way - by love. Jesus, I believe, saw the widow's love and that her gift went far beyond simply giving the last coin she had. She gave all her love with it. I hope she can motivate all of us. AMEN
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