A widow is saving her last portion of flour for her final meal. She uses that flour to make bread to feed the prophet Elijah. And in the midst of the scribes wearing luxurious robes and sitting in the places of honor, a different poor widow very generously puts her livelihood, two small coins, into the Temple's treasury. What do these readings tell us about the importance of giving and how we are called to give?
Many would consider the gift of the poor widow's mites as insignificant; why would she give them as a gift? If it didn't matter to the treasury, wouldn't she be better off keeping that money for herself for her own needs? If she had let the rich make all the contributions themselves, she could have kept her pennies and invested them for the future. Yet, perhaps the widow realized in her heart that by not keeping her mites to herself and instead giving them to the Temple, she was worshipping God and giving glory to him.
There can be different motivations behind our giving big or small. For example, we could give resentfully, hating to part with what we give. We can give out of shame, feeling that we need to keep up appearances, to give so that others won't look down on us. We can give in a calculated way, thinking we will get something back in return. But we can also give out of quite different motives: we can give out of thanksgiving, giving out of the blessings that God has given to us. Why else would the widow give her last mites, her whole livelihood, to the Temple treasury, if it wasn't out of thanksgiving? What is the motivation for what and how we give in our lives? Do we give mostly out of shame, or do we do so out of thanksgiving?
This week in our Catholic Church, we finish commemorating National Vocation Awareness Week. Recently, some members of our Hispanic community asked me how I came to be a priest in Mississippi, since I am grew up in Illinois and California. We know all too well that we have a shortage of vocations here in our diocese and throughout the Church. We now have priests from Mexico, India, and Vietnam replacing the Irish priests who are retiring, but what are we doing as parishes or as a diocese to encourage vocations in our children and youth? I think of the two widows and the sacrifices they made for the faith. Back to the question that the Hispanics asked of me – I came to Mississippi because I wanted to be a missionary in my own country, to serve in an area where priests were desperately needed.
We are grateful that our parish of St Jude has been very generous and gracious in encouraging vocations. It is so important for us to raise our families in the Church and to encourage our children and young people to live out their faith in their daily lives.
Our readings today give us a lot to think about as to how we give in our lives of faith and the way we live out of our vocation. May the way we give in our lives truly reflect our journey of faith, may it give glory to God and reflect God's will for our lives.
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