We must live by the obedience of faith, a faith that shows itself in works of charity and self-giving. That’s the lesson the two widows are teaching us in today’s readings.

The widow in the First Reading isn’t even a Jew, yet she trusts in the word of Elijah and the promise of his Lord. Facing sure starvation, she gives all that she has, her last bit of food—feeding the man of God before herself and her family.

The widow in the Gospel also gives all that she has, offering her last bit of money to support the work of God’s priests in the Temple.

In their self-sacrifice, these widows embody the love that Jesus last week revealed as the heart of the Law and the Gospel. They mirror the Father’s love in giving His only Son, and Christ’s love in sacrificing Himself on the Cross.

Jesus taught that real giving must come from the heart. A gift that is given with a grudge or for display loses most of its value. But a gift given out of love, with a spirit of generosity and sacrifice, is invaluable. The amount or size of the gift doesn’t matter as much as the cost to the giver. The poor widow could have kept one of her coins, but instead she recklessly gave away all she had! Jesus praised someone who gave barely a penny—how insignificant a sum—because it was everything she had, her whole living. What we have to offer may look very small and not worth much, but if we put all we have at the Lord’s disposal, no matter how insignificant it may seem, then God can do with it and with us what is beyond our reckoning. Do you really know the joy and freedom of giving liberally to God and to neighbor with gratitude and love? We shall put that into practice in everyday life. God is not looking into the amount but into our Heart only.

We shall try to give all that we can to the Lord—not out of a sense of forced duty, but in a spirit of generosity and love.

Today, let us follow the widows’ example, doing what God asks, confident that our jars of flour will not grow empty, nor our jugs of oil run dry. That is God’s promise to us always.

Love and prayers,

Fr. Charley