1Kgs 17:10-16; Ps 146; Heb 9:24-28; Mk 12:38-44
COMMENTARY
The Contribution of the Poor for God
Today’s Gospel is short, especially if you read the second (“abbreviated”) version provided by the Lectionary. So, the commentary shouldn’t be any longer than the Word of God! (I imagine someone will shout Hallelujah here!). I’ll be brief, just three points (about half an hour!) to help us understand the central message of this concise, but meaningful episode.
1. “Jesus, Sat Down […] Observed.” A Pretty Scene
I’m always struck by this scene of Jesus in the Temple. As the evangelist Mark tells it, “Jesus sat down opposite the treasury [in the Temple], and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.” It’s intriguing to see Jesus, who had time to sit and observe the people passing by, almost without a purpose and as if He had nothing to do in life! He was just an itinerant nobody with three ‘no’s’: no home, no job, no money!
In reality, He was in the Temple, and thus He was fulfilling His life’s mission, as He had told His mother after He was found right in the Temple: “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (translated from the original Greek). His purpose in life was to be in the Temple of God, where He could fulfill the mission He’d been given by the Father: to focus exclusively on God’s work.
So, we’re always with Him on this mission. It’s from this missionary perspective that we should “sit” quietly and “observe” the actions of others before God. (It would also be interesting to spend some time in a church, especially in Rome, and observe people coming and going. This could inspire us and help us create a spiritual meditation based on their behaviors to grow in the missionary spirit!).
2. “A Poor Widow Also Came and Put In Two Small Coins”
I’m a bit surprised that Jesus was able to figure out the exact amount of the offering made by the poor widow from a distance. It was clear from her clothes that the woman was poor. However, it is interesting to understand how He was able to identify so accurately, from a distance, that she “put in two small coins worth a few cents.” Either His sight was superhuman or His hearing was supra-natural, thus enabling Him to hear the sound of each coin hitting the base of the Treasury! In any case, what happened shows that Jesus was really interested in this widow, and that God cares about all pilgrims, orphans, and widows, as you can see in Psalm 145.
In Christ’s mission and in God’s mission, every step and every action of the poor, the weakest, and the helpless is seen and known by Him. Every tear will be remembered. Every offering will always be noticed and appreciated.
3. “Amen, I Say To You, This Poor Widow […] Has Contributed All She Had, Her Whole Livelihood.”
Jesus’ comment to the disciples about the widow’s offering is really quite significant and moving. Once more, it took divine insight into the woman’s personal life – something only Jesus could have – to say that she “has contributed all she had.” He made it sound like a formal teaching, saying, “Amen, I say to you.” And to reinforce the thought and to heighten the drama of the situation, Jesus continues with a clarification: she “[has contributed], her whole livelihood.”
The original Greek is even more concise and “dramatic” here, using the phrase “her whole livelihood.” It’s simply holon ton bion [autes] which literally means “her whole livelihood.” Yes, the widow offered God “her whole life” in the Temple, throwing the two coins, everything she had at that moment. And the Lord saw her and He pointed it out to His disciples, with authority and with a clear emphasis on the gap between the woman’s misery and generosity for God compared to the other people in the Temple, richer and wealthier. By her concrete offering, small but significant, she participates with her whole life in God’s mission for the world.
I conclude this examination of Jesus’ teachings without offering a hasty conclusion or posing an uncomfortable question for the examination of conscience that every believer will have to make in life with God. I pause only to continue contemplating this unnamed and unidentified widow, whose circumstances and age are unknown to me. Perhaps it is because she is always present among us, even today. (We will have to grow in our spiritual journey in order to have the eyes of Jesus and be able to notice her). Perhaps I now comprehend Jesus’ initial beatitude with greater clarity: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 5:3). (And perhaps I also understand the ironic joke of a pastor with great experience in church building: “Every church is usually built with the money of the poor and the advice of the rich!”).
Useful points to consider:
POPE FRANCIS, Encyclical Letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ, Dilexit Nos
Jesus’ Gaze
40. Many a page of the Gospel illustrates how attentive Jesus was to individuals and above all to their problems and needs. […]
41. Precisely out of concern for us, Jesus knows every one of our good intentions and small acts of charity. The Gospel tells us that once he “saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins” in the Temple treasury (Lk 21:2) and immediately brought it to the attention of his disciples. Jesus thus appreciates the good that he sees in us. […] How reassuring it is to know that, even if others are not aware of our good intentions or actions, Jesus sees them and regards them highly.
POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation on the Call to Holiness in Today’s World, Gaudete et Exsultate,
144. Let us not forget that Jesus asked his disciples to pay attention to details.
The little detail that wine was running out at a party.
The little detail that one sheep was missing.
The little detail of noticing the widow who offered her two small coins.[…]
145. A community that cherishes the little details of love, whose members care for one another and create an open and evangelizing environment, is a place where the risen Lord is present, sanctifying it in accordance with the Father’s plan. […]
POPE FRANCIS, Angelus, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 7 November 2021
Jesus looks, he looks at what is happening in this most sacred of places; and he sees how the scribes love to walk around to be seen, greeted and revered, and in order to have the places of honour. […]
[…] At the same time, another scene catches his eyes: a poor widow, precisely one of those exploited by the powers that be, puts “everything she had, her whole living” (Mk 12:44) in the Temple treasury. […]
Jesus watches the two scenes. And it is this very verb — “to watch” — that sums up his teaching: “we must watch out for” those who live their faith with duplicity, like the scribes, so as not to become like them; whereas we must “watch” the widow and take her as a model. Let us reflect on this: to watch out for hypocrites and to watch the poor widow.
First of all, to watch out for hypocrites, that is, to be careful not to base our life on the cult of appearances, the external, and the exaggerated care of one’s own image. And most importantly, to be careful not to bend faith around our own interests. In the name of God, those scribes covered-up their own vainglory, and even worse, they used religion to conduct their own affairs, abusing their authority and exploiting the poor. […].This is a warning for all time and for everyone, Church and society: never take advantage of one’s role to crush others, never make money off the backs of the weakest! […]
And in order to heal this illness, Jesus invites us to watch the poor widow. […]Jesus praises the fact that this widow puts all she has into the treasury. She has nothing left, but finds her everything in God. She is not afraid of losing the little she has because she trusts in God’s abundance, and God’s abundance multiplies the joy of those who give. […]This is why Jesus proposes her as a teacher of faith, this woman: she does not go to the Temple to clear her conscience, she does not pray to make herself seen, she does not show off her faith, but she gives from her heart generously and freely. The sound of her few coins is more beautiful than the grandiose offerings of the rich, since they express a life sincerely dedicated to God, a faith that does not live by appearances but by unconditional trust. Let us learn from her: a faith without external frills, but interiorly sincere; a faith composed of humble love for God and for our brothers and sisters. […]