Daily Gospel Reflection

Give Like the Widow

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant. I'm Matthew Kelly. I look forward to this time each day with you to reflect on the gospel, to look at the life and teachings of Jesus, and allow His wisdom to continue to fill our lives. Today's reading is from the Gospel of Luke chapter 21, verses 1 through 4. Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, "Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all the others, for they all contributed out of their abundance. But she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had."

It's a fascinating reading. I've been fascinated with this one for a while. Jesus is sitting there watching people put money in the treasury. A couple of years ago, that just sort of struck me. Imagine someone standing, watching what people put in the collection plate at church on Sunday. You'd think, "Well, that's a bit strange." It'd probably make you feel a bit uncomfortable. Then think, "Okay, what about if Jesus was doing it?" And I find this fascinating because he's observing human nature. And of course, people with a lot were giving a lot, but giving from their abundance.

And honestly, like that, I think about the giving I do, I think about the giving we do as a family, Maggie and I as a couple. Most of our giving is out of abundance. It's stuff we're never going to need. It's stuff we don't certainly need now. And sacrificial giving, we have to really try. We have to really go at it intentionally to achieve it. And of course, that's what we see in the widow. We see sacrificial giving. We see giving that required her to go without. We see giving that was going to cause her inconvenience, maybe even suffering. And there's something beautiful in that, right?

Natural example we see of that all the time is in the mother, especially of a newborn. But I think mothers their whole lives, they don't grow out of that role. But a mother of a newborn child, there is sacrificial giving there. There is sleep, there is time, there is energy, there is the body, there's just everything. It is a beautiful act of sacrificial giving. So as we go about our lives today, this week, this month, this year, let's think about Jesus' invitation to sacrificial giving. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.