Word to the Wise
Monday, November 25, 2024 - Monday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
[Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5 and Luke 21:1-4]When Jesus looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood." [Luke]
If this gospel passage seems familiar, it may be due to the Marcan version appearing in the weekday scripture recently. The incident is reported now in the Gospel According to Luke who, like Matthew, borrowed extensively from the Gospel According to Mark. In both gospels, however, it is important to note the context as well as the individual emphases of the evangelists.
The context is Jerusalem and Jesus' last days on earth. The location is the temple, which figures more in Luke than in Mark, perhaps because Luke wrote later and the memory of the temple had begun to assume a different role in the minds of the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Luke's audience. The problem of earthly wealth is big in Luke who includes the parables of The Rich Man and Lazarus and the Rich Fool. The widow does not contribute from wealth but from her "whole livelihood." Last, but not least, is Jesus' own situation soon to occur in which he makes the ultimate sacrifice of his whole earthly life.
The story is popularly called "the Widow's Mite" and often used in fundraising appeals, but its power lies in the love and devotion of the widow and of Jesus. Ultimate generosity is not easy to do or even to think about, but it is part and parcel of the gospel and a continual challenge to all who would be disciples of Jesus. AMEN