Bible
Study: Revelations 14, 1
to 5 and Luke 21, 1 to 4.
There is a kind of giving that touches the heart of God. Our offertory
is not just money we give in Church, it is an act of sacrifice capable of
drawing the attention of God on our behalf. This is exactly what happened in
our Gospel passage this morning: Jesus took notice of a poor widow because of
her offertory.
In the eyes of the world, what she gave was small but to Jesus, it was
really huge because that was all she had to live on. Her offertory became her
Presentation. Her gift was not only accepted, it brought her into limelight in
the Presence of God. Dear friends, what is your offertory? What is its value
compared to your entire wealth? How come we only give the thinnest fraction of
what we have? What is wrong with giving a truly widow’s mite?
By the way, as this story points out, a widow’s mite is not the smallest
amount you can give, a widow’s mite according to this story is ALL YOU HAVE.
The way we use the phrase “widow’s mite” clearly shows we do not even know what
it means.
Now, what keeps us from giving like the widow is FEAR. Yes, we are too
scared of never having enough and too scared of the future that we hold on tightly
to what we have; so tight that we don’t allow other things come in. We say we
can’t give because we don’t have and our words eventually become
self-fulfilling prophecies. By saying we don’t have, we never ever get to have.
So far, we have talked about giving with reference to Money. The truth
is that money is just one out of a million things we can give to God. In fact, giving
money is not as important as giving other things such as telling the truth for
instance. Oh, you never thought of it before, isn’t it?
Being truthful can be your offertory. In today’s first reading, St. John
speaks of the one hundred and forty four thousand (a symbolic number) who have
washed their robes clean. He says: “On their lips no lie has been found.” In
other words, to wash one’s robes clean is to stop telling lies. If you cannot
give all your money as the widow gave, at least give the truth at all times,
let it be your presentation.
Again apart from money, truth and other good deeds we can give to God,
our children are also great gifts that God is ever pleased to have. Today we
celebrate how Joachim and Anne, made a gift of their daughter, Mary to God. At
a very young age, they dedicated Mary to God and by that very act, committed
themselves to her proper upbringing and spiritual development. Their act of presentation
became the foundation of God’s choice of her as the Mother of Jesus Christ.
Dear parents, dedicate your children to God and give them the best home
training possible. You never can tell, your daughter may just be the next icon
God would use to change the world.
Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, I present my gifts, my money, my goodness and
my children to you. Amen.
Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith.
It is well with you. God bless you. Happy new week.
Fr. Abu.
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