The Widow's Mite

Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from November 12, 2006

"A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents." Mk 12:42

I once served a parish divided economically by a highway. The leadership of the parish tended to be wealthy business executives and military officers. We had a campaign to build a new church. One of our well-heeled fundraisers took part in a neighborhood visitation. He crossed the highway to a trailer park. There, he knocked at the door of a trailer in poor condition to find an older woman living on her own. After he had made his prepared pitch, he added sensitively, "I do not know why I am here asking you to give your money, when I should be asking you what the parish needs to do for you..." She cut into his sentence with, "There is no need for that talk. Long before you came I had already decided what I wanted to do for the church. I live on Social Security. I supplement my income washing floors 5 days a week. I have taken on extra work for Saturdays, and I will pledge that amount weekly to build the church."

That experience taught me something Jesus already understood. Too often we think of giving to the poor, rather than considering what they have to offer. Jesus observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. When he saw the widow's mite he called his disciples to himself, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood." Mk 12:43-44

In November, the U.S. Catholic Church promoted the Campaign for Human Development. Unlike many poverty programs that can create dependency, the goal of this program is to promote empowerment, giving the poor a chance to participate. Let us recognize with Jesus, the willingness of all to share their gifts, and let us honor their desire to share.