In Mark’s Gospel we see a widow who offers two coins in the temple and Jesus is watching her. We can see in this reading, in the New Testament, Jesus the ultimate prophet and God himself is watching the widow putting the coins. Jesus appreciates it.

On the other side, in the Old Testament (1Kings), we see a widow and prophet Elijah. Here also we see the widow giving the only food she has with her – the last food which is kept for her and her son.

They were supposed to eat that food and die, because it was all that was left with her. There was nothing else left with her. But the prophet said, give that food to me first and everything will be fine for you. 

There is a connection between these two widows in both the readings. The offertory is given to the Church – the tithe. Both the widows gave all that was there with them to God.

When people get salary, they use their salary wherever they want, and then whatever is left, they offer it to the Lord. It means whatever is left – the balance money – we give it to God. 

Many people are like this. When we are in the Church and the offertory box comes, we look into our pockets and keep all the big notes aside and see whether any coins are in the pocket. Out of those coins we look for the dirty and the rusty coins to put in the box.

But in the Old Testament, when the widow told Elijah that she and her son are going to eat the last food which she has and then going to die, Elijah told her “Do not be afraid, you cook the food and give me first”. This is a very important message. 

The message is this: When you are going through any struggle, in any area, give the struggle to God first. If you are going through financial trouble, what you should give to God (the tithe), you should give it first – even when you don’t have anything. Whatever you have, first give the best to God. Rest, God will take care of you. 

Fr. always wonders, why Jesus appreciated the widow. The widow had only two coins. Whatever she had to live on, she gave it to the temple. It is not that the temple was poor. 

During that time the temple was the richest. For all the Jewish people, there was only one temple. All the people used to put their offertory in that temple. So, that temple was the richest. 

Yet, Jesus never said that all the people put so much money in the offertory, so the widow shouldn’t have put that money. She should have used that money for her livelihood. But instead, Jesus appreciated her sacrifice. 

She put all that she had. She trusted in God. She didn’t keep the little money that she had for herself. Even what she had kept for her livelihood, she gave to God.

That is what Elijah told the widow in the Old Testament – that I know this is the only food you have. It is the only food remaining for you. But give that food to me first.

It looks very rude on the part of the prophet. But that is how we are tested. In fact, Elijah was testing her faith and she proved her faith. She didn’t eat the last food she had, neither she gave that food to her son, instead, she gave it to Elijah.

After that her jug was never empty till the last day. She and her son had abundant blessings, because they gave God first, whatever they had with them. 

Many families come for service and say “I want to serve the Lord. I want to do the ministry”. After that they get a job, they get busy in their life and then they don’t have time for God.

They don’t have time for service. They are so busy. In such situations they do face some tough time in their life. Because they are not giving their best to God. They are fully focused on their job, and on worldly responsibilities. 

If you really want to have a peaceful job and you want happiness, comfort in your job, you should give your first priority to God. Everybody gives their time to their jobs. But we should give our prime time to God.

People feel that Fr. is rude, when he says to give time to God. They feel Fr. is demanding too much when their life is so hectic and they are so busy in their jobs. But that is exactly what Elijah also asked from the widow.

But that widow did not ask this question to Elijah. She obeyed and listened to what Elijah told her to do. On the prophet’s part it looked rude, but she was blessed. 

So, give the best to God. Give the prime time to God. Then your job, time and everything will be blessed. God knows that you are struggling with your job, responsibilities and hectic schedules. You have so many things to do. But, if you really want to enjoy your job and family life, then give your best to God.

In the name of your job, do not deny the ministry. In the name of responsibilities, do not give away your ministry, which God has entrusted you with. If you give up your ministry, you will never be happy in your job and life.

Elijah tested the widow and blessings came to the widow. She had no one she was alone. She gave whatever she had. Then she was blessed and she had enough and more. Because she gave all to God, to the prophet, to the ministry. 

In the New Testament, another widow had only two coins, which she gave to God. That is why Jesus appreciated the widow, who gave what she had with her to the Temple. The appreciation from God is the biggest blessing. 

The reading about both the widows is so important to us. So many of us go through a lot of things. We have problems in so many areas. Because we do not give the best to God. We give the last and least to God.

It means that we do not have a strong faith in God; we do not trust God. The widow had a strong faith in whatever the prophet said. That is why even though she and her son were hungry, they did not eat. But she gave that food to Elijah. She trusted the prophet more than herself.

In the New Testament, the widow did not think about herself before putting those two coins. Though the temple was very rich and had lots of gold, silver, money and many more things. She could have kept those coins for herself and justified it. But she decided to give it to the Temple.

Let us examine our conscience and see where is our tithing. What would we do if we were in the place of these two widows? 

No wonder we go through financial troubles and difficulties in our daily life. No wonder we have a lot of crisis in our jobs and many other areas. Because we are not giving our best time – our best help – to God. 

Consider our youth today. God has given them so much knowledge, wisdom and capacity in social media. They know how to use computers, internet and all kinds of social media platforms. 

But they are not using it for God. They are not giving it to God. They are giving it for many other things in life, for enjoyment and other things. 

At the same time, we are not ready to use it to spread the message of the Lord. No wonder we are falling into problems and these things are not giving us happiness. Because we are not giving our best to God. 

So let us examine our conscience and say, “Lord I am so sorry. I am a failure in all these areas. I always take the best for myself and I give the least, last and useless things to you.”

“No wonder I have these problems and crisis and struggles in my life. Because I am not giving the best like that widow in the Old Testament, who gave the only food she had.” The best thing she had, she gave to the prophet and she was blessed.

The widow in the New Testament, gave the only thing she had and the best thing she had – the two coins. She gave it to the temple and Jesus blessed her.

Transcribed by Greta Furtado