Today's Gospel

Give Like the Widow

What does the Holy Spirit draw your mind to today, draw your heart to in this today? Is there a specific word or phrase or an idea?

I think for me, one thing that strikes me always when I read this is that Jesus was watching people put money into the treasury. And I find that fascinating. He was sitting there and he was watching people put money into the treasury. If Jesus was watching me in my giving, I think to myself, "Gee, what would he be saying to the disciples over there? If he was watching me and my giving, what would he be saying?" And very often, I think he'd be saying the same thing as he said about the rich people here. He said they gave out of their abundance. And a lot of giving that we do, a lot of giving that Megan and I do, it doesn't change our life. I don't go without in some of this giving.

For us to really give sacrificially, we have to do that intentionally. And I don't think it comes naturally. It doesn't come easily, maybe to anybody. But I think, yeah, we're like those rich people. And Jesus is saying they're giving out of their abundance. He's not saying it's bad. He's just pointing out they're giving out of their abundance. And the widow, she's giving sacrificially, right? She's giving from what she lives on. And that's beautiful. It's amazing, right? It's staggering, really. And who do we see in this? I've talked to you before about reading the gospel through different lenses.

And sometimes I'll say, "Pick a virtue." You could pick a virtue of patience and just read the whole gospel of-- we're in Luke. Read the whole gospel of Luke through the lens of patience. Or pick the virtue of generosity and read the whole gospel of Luke just through the virtue of generosity. Another way I love to do it is through the eyes of the saints and ask, "Okay, which saint does this reading remind you of?" For me, it's France of Assisi, right? He had this radical generosity. He had this radical giving everything to the poor and laying his life before God in this complete surrender. And so what are we called to? We're called to live the gospel, which is radical and relevant. And it's radical and relevant in our hearts when we allow it to penetrate. Have a great day, and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.