Memorial of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Today’s Gospel tells us the story of the poor widow who could only offer two small coins into the treasury, whereas the wealthy people were able to offer much more. However, Jesus says that the poor widow put in more than all of the rest because she, from her poverty, offered her whole livelihood.
Although this is a great passage to teach us to be more charitable with our money and possessions, I believe it goes much deeper. One of the most profound and freeing things we can do as Christians is to simply recognize our poverty—not in a financial sense but a spiritual one. It’s important to understand that we are weak, and that’s okay! This understanding turns us to the greater realization that we must rely on God at all times. He is the one that supplies the grace we need to follow His will. Whether we feel we are a saint or not doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we pray and trust in Him in our poverty and weakness.
Many times in our lives, we are going to fail. We are going to fail to do the virtuous thing, fail to pray as much as we would have liked, and fail to treat our neighbor with love. Despite our failings, are we still going to trust that God is there, supplying us with exactly what we need to continue to follow Him? God isn’t looking for us to be perfect; that’s simply impossible. However, He is looking for us to, as the widow did in her poverty, offer Him our whole livelihood. He wants us to say from the heart, “I am weak; I need you to take care of me.”
Reflection by Trevor, seminarian
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections