Dear Parishioners,
In this week’s gospel, Jesus tells the famous story of the widow’s mite (Mk 12:38-44). This poor woman without any source of income approaches the Temple and gives her last two coins. It wasn’t much, but it was all she could give. Last week, Jesus said that the greatest commandment was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” This is what the widow did sacrificing all the money she possessed. What a great example for love to inspire us to greater generosity in giving our time, talent, and treasure.
Let’s contrast her attitude with that of some modern day Catholics. I hear and read in the media that because of recent scandals in the Church, some people are cutting back or stopping their contributions to show their disappointment and anger to the manner in which clerical abuse was handled. Perhaps some are even giving up the church and the faith. How sad that would be. During the widow’s time, the temple authorities were hardly models of virtue. Time and again, Jesus is tested by the religious leaders of his day. The widow could easily have justified keeping the coins for herself, but her love for God led her to give to Him through the Temple. Even has the widow been aware of the faults of the religious leaders, I cannot imagine her doing anything other than she did. Her heart was too full and generous to do anything other than give her coins to God.
Let us not overlook the sins of abuse and coverup. Let us continue to pray for the victims of abuse. But let us be generous to God with our time, talent, and treasure to help build up his kingdom on earth and heaven.
Fr. Carl
Rev. Stephen Hook is Pastor of the Pastorate of St. Jane Frances de Chantal (Riviera Beach) and Our Lady of the Chesapeake (Lakeshore) in Pasadena, Maryland. He is assisted by Associate Pastor Rev. James Bors and Deacon Howard Klohr. To learn more about our parish, please visit www.stjane.org.
