Often while we are reading the Bible, we come across scriptures and texts which remind us of what are job is to do while we are here on earth. At the end of Mark Chapter 12, Jesus has positioned himself outside the synagogue so that he can watch people give to the treasury, and scripture says that “…and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.” Now a “mite” is a seventh part of one piece of that brass money, it is very thin, and we can say that it like a penny today, so two pennies she gave. Jesus calls his disciples to him and tells them that this woman cast more in than all they who have given to the treasury. He notices that she cast in all her living, all that she had to give - and she is immortalized as a result.
This parable of a woman, a widow, and all she has is a couple of coins, and these coins were worth hardly anything, they were very thin, maybe we can say they were almost worthless, but yet she put everything she had in, and this was worth more than what everyone else was putting, but thats all she had, and God sees that. She did it with love and charity. For us too, God calls us to give all to him, to do all things for love of him, and so whatever we have, a-lot or a little bit- it belongs to God. Remember that this life is temporary. In the book of Job, he had a-lot, great wealth and big family, and all of a sudden he loses it all, even on the verge of death and he says, that the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away, naked I came into this world, naked I will leave this world. That should be our heart. Everything is temporary, it will come and go. What the Lord calls for us is that we live a life of charity, live a life for him, that everything, all our talents and all he has given us is directed towards knowing, loving, and serving him. That's where we are to go - if we go in that direction, we have nothing to worry about - in fact, we are even happier because we are not consumed with greed, or jealousy, or envy, or pride, or ourselves, it's all about giving to the Lord. With that type of heart and mindset, when it is our time to go before the Lord, and we go before him as a good and faithful servant, even if we have little or we think what we have is insignificant - give it all to him, because he is the God of multiplication, and he can do far more than we can ever ask or measure - give it to him as he has given himself to us.
Our job in life is not to point out the mistakes of others - but be one who testifies to the to the Lord’s presence and action in everyday people’s lives. Much like Jesus did here, as he witnessed the good this poor widow did, we too are called to encourage others when we see the good work they are doing, when we see them giving the little money they have to our churches, so that the church can continue to be a living force in our community. This gospel reminds us to never downplay the little things we, and others can do, the differences we can make. When a son or daughter bury their parents, the stories they tell are not about what they received, such as the presents they received for Christmas, but how their mother and father sat with them and helped them with their homework, or how their parents helped them in a tough time in their life by a word of encouragement. Our teachers work hard each day to help students, they make a great deal of difference and for the most part they don’t get a lot of attention for it. We should never underplay our contributions to God’s kingdom.
A Cardinal was walking in the street in his sport clothes when he noticed an elderly woman who was hesitant about crossing a busy street - so he went up to her - she didn’t recognize him - and he asked her, “Would you like to cross the street with me?” “Oh!” she exclaimed, “Yes!” So they both crossed and got to the other side, and she said to him, “Oh, I’m an elderly women, so I don’t think your wife would care too much that you helped me cross the street.” And without any amusement he said, “Yes, I think your right.” It’s these kinds of stories that each one of us have, where we, or someone else made a kind act or a small gesture that made a difference in someone’s life, and these events become embedded in our memories as something that we remember and think about, and we delight in them. So, if we can delight in those kinds of stories, just think about how God delights in the little that we do – this should encourage all of us - never forget that our small actions, and the kindness we witness others demonstrate are also witnessed by God and immortalized in his memory, for we all live in his gaze.