This Poor Widow Has Put More . . .

(By Fr. Dexter Brereton)

Several years ago, I found myself sitting in a KFC (which no longer exists) in the neighboring town of Tunapuna  feeling badly about my own life. Here I was, in the seminary for many years and had really nothing to show for it. Sure I did well in studies but my time was also marked by a number of painful crises and conflicts with my superiors and others.

I needed someone to befriend me. I needed to hear these words of Jesus “I tell you solemnly, this poor widow has put more in than all who have contributed to the treasury; for they have all put in money they had over, but she from the little she had has put in everything she possessed, all she had to live on.” This was the time when, remaining faithful to my vocation meant “putting all that I had to live on.” My gift to God was not great, I was not blessed with the gift of “plenty” but at this time of my life, I was giving the last of my resources, crawling as it were towards the finish line.

A number of us have come to this point at one time or the other. It may have been a dry period in our marriage, our dead-end job, our teaching or legal or medical career. It might have been in the context of a significant relationship. The lean periods in our lives serve as  powerful reminders not just of our ultimate dependence on God, but on the sheer gift that life is for us. Nothing we have is our own. All comes from God. With this spirituality, we are prevented from becoming like the scribes who ‘walk about in long robes’ or the rich who give large sums of money, both of whom are looking to create a show.