The great Franciscan saint, Padre Pio, was raising money to build a hospital in the area where he lived, in Italy. One day, he was approached by an elderly widow, who pressed a few lira notes into his hands for his fund. The donation only amounted to a few dollars, but that wasn’t the reason Padre Pio was reluctant to take it. He knew that it was probably all of the woman’s savings, and she didn’t have any money left to take care of her needs. So, when he tried to return her money, the widow nodded and sighed “Yes, Father Pio, I guess it isn’t very much money, is it?” At which Padre Pio changed totally and snatched up the money, saying “Dear lady, this is the best gift I have ever received for my fund”.
Perhaps at that moment, Fr Pio remembered the story of the widow in our gospel today, and of the widow in our first reading also. Perhaps he also recalled the words of our responsorial psalm, that God “upholds the widow and the orphan”, and he stopped worrying how the woman before him, proffering her life’s savings, was going to be able to live without any money. God would take care of her, as he always seems to do for the poor and needy, who put God first in their lives. We are not told what happened to the widow in the gospel after she left the temple, having deposited into the treasury “all she had to live on”. In a way, we really don’t need to know. I would bet the last dollar I own that she was taken care of thereafter. Because one of God’s titles in the Bible is “Yahweh Jireh” – “God provides”. “God upholds the widow and the orphan”, says our psalm today, Psalm 68 echoes that thought: “God is the father of orphans and the protector of widows”, it says, “in your goodness, O God, you provide for the needy”. (verses 5, 10). I could quote many other such references from the Bible.
Yes, God can, and often does, use others who are responsive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, to take care of the poor and needy, but, ultimately, the care and provision come from him. There are food banks around the world, but, as our psalm says, “it is the Lord who gives food to the hungry”. Yes, there are groups and organizations who work to support migrants and refugees, but, again, ultimately, “the Lord watches over the strangers”. And there are those who work hard on behalf of those who are unjustly imprisoned, but, when they succeed, it is really the Lord who “sets prisoners free”.
So, brothers and sisters, when you and I are moved to do what we can to help those in any kind of need, we really are, as we say, “doing the Lord’s work”. We are proving ourselves “righteous” and so we should know that God loves us for doing so. In the words of our psalm once more “the Lord loves the righteous”.
You probably know the Church talks about the “corporal” and “spiritual” works of mercy. The former comprise: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the prisoner, burying the dead (mostly based on Matthew 25); the latter include: instructing the ignorant, counselling the doubtful, admonishing the sinner, bearing patiently those who wrong us, forgiving offences, comforting the afflicted, and praying for the living and the dead (all based on Jesus’ own personal example, you notice).
We have had a number of special collections of late, as you know, prescribed by the diocese, and as Christmas approaches, we will undoubtedly be approached by various organizations to donate to various charities besides. We might grumble a bit, but it should help to know that when we do our bit, whatever it is, we are carrying out the Lord’s work, and he loves us for it, and will ensure that we do not lose by it. We are sowing riches for eternal life.
Not only that, but we should realize that, in doing such good works, we are fulfilling the two greatest commandments, as Jesus pointed out in last week’s gospel. You remember “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and might” and “you shall love your neighbor as yourself”. As I explained in last week’s homily, this means “to love God and neighbor” with all we have and are. The words “with all your heart” means we should not be of two minds as to whether we are going to help the poor and needy or not. It is the right thing to do, in the words of our Preface at Mass “it is truly right and just“. “With all our soul” means that we are passionate about serving the Lord by serving his poor. While “with all our might” can be translated “very, very much” and includes, in the Jewish understanding of the term, the giving of our financial resources.
And so, the widow in our gospel is loving God with all her heart, soul and might. She is not seeking acclaim or publicity, as so many others do, and did during Jesus’ time. We are told that the big donors to the temple would have priests sounding the shofar, or trumpet, when they came in to make their gift. Jesus points out in Matthew 6 that those who want to draw attention to their acts of piety “have already received their reward”. Listen to what he says: ”Beware of practicing our piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly, I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you “ (Matthew 6: 1-4). The same goes, says Jesus, for fasting and praying.
The widow is loving God with all her “might”. She could have donated just one of her coins and kept back the other for herself. No-one would have blamed or judged her, certainly not Jesus. But she doesn’t. Privately, secretly, she is giving away all that she had to live on, as Jesus acknowledges, and leaves the temple without anyone else noticing. Except Jesus. Jesus notices our works of mercy and compassion, and his Father knows how to reward us. “Come you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry , and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and your gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you? And the king will answer them “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of those who are members of my family, you did it to me “(Matthew 25: 34-40).