Fr. Jorge Miró shares with the readers of Exaudi his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, November 10, 2024, entitled “This poor widow has put in more than anyone else”
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The Word of God today invites us to live in trust in God, who maintains his fidelity perpetually (cf. Ps 145).
That is why we have sung in the Alleluia: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The scene of the Gospel is moving. In profound contrast to the image presented by the teachers of the law, a poor widow approaches the temple treasury and offers the best example of what true religiosity should be. It is she whom we disciples are called to imitate. Her two small coins bear the seal of that total donation that the first commandment demands and that every true act of worship demands: the Lord, our God, is the only Lord: you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.
The encounter with God is not achieved through external rites, more or less striking, but through those simple and silent gestures, which may even go unnoticed, but in which man gives all his certainties to abandon himself completely into the hands of God.
What counts is a generous heart, detached and trusting in the action of God, since God does not pay so much attention to what we give, as to what we reserve for ourselves. No one gave as much as the one who did not reserve anything for herself.
True piety is a surrender to God, a complete placing of oneself at his disposal, letting oneself be carried by the Holy Spirit, without resistance, without reservations or conditions. The widow gave everything to God and, in doing so, gave herself.
The widow of Zarephath in the first reading has the same generosity. At the request of the prophet Elijah, she gives him the last loaf of bread she had for herself and her son to eat. Her faith had been put to the test: she had to give him the last loaf of bread she had for herself and her son. That piece of bread that was asked of her was her everything. And she gave that everything. The “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” had to be fulfilled to the letter. Her total generosity was her food and her life. And so, the jar of flour was not emptied nor the jug of oil used up.
Worship of God consists in the total offering of oneself.
One of the signs of living in the Spirit is generosity. Generosity towards God and towards one’s brothers and sisters. Because she has discovered that everything is a gift, everything is grace and that one is happier in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20:35).
Come, Holy Spirit!
This poor widow has put in more than anyone else: Commentary by Fr. Jorge Miró
XXXII Sunday, November 10, 2024
Fr. Jorge Miró shares with the readers of Exaudi his commentary on the Gospel of this Sunday, November 10, 2024, entitled “This poor widow has put in more than anyone else”
***
The Word of God today invites us to live in trust in God, who maintains his fidelity perpetually (cf. Ps 145).
That is why we have sung in the Alleluia: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The scene of the Gospel is moving. In profound contrast to the image presented by the teachers of the law, a poor widow approaches the temple treasury and offers the best example of what true religiosity should be. It is she whom we disciples are called to imitate. Her two small coins bear the seal of that total donation that the first commandment demands and that every true act of worship demands: the Lord, our God, is the only Lord: you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart.
The encounter with God is not achieved through external rites, more or less striking, but through those simple and silent gestures, which may even go unnoticed, but in which man gives all his certainties to abandon himself completely into the hands of God.
What counts is a generous heart, detached and trusting in the action of God, since God does not pay so much attention to what we give, as to what we reserve for ourselves. No one gave as much as the one who did not reserve anything for herself.
True piety is a surrender to God, a complete placing of oneself at his disposal, letting oneself be carried by the Holy Spirit, without resistance, without reservations or conditions. The widow gave everything to God and, in doing so, gave herself.
The widow of Zarephath in the first reading has the same generosity. At the request of the prophet Elijah, she gives him the last loaf of bread she had for herself and her son to eat. Her faith had been put to the test: she had to give him the last loaf of bread she had for herself and her son. That piece of bread that was asked of her was her everything. And she gave that everything. The “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” had to be fulfilled to the letter. Her total generosity was her food and her life. And so, the jar of flour was not emptied nor the jug of oil used up.
Worship of God consists in the total offering of oneself.
One of the signs of living in the Spirit is generosity. Generosity towards God and towards one’s brothers and sisters. Because she has discovered that everything is a gift, everything is grace and that one is happier in giving than in receiving (cf. Acts 20:35).
Come, Holy Spirit!
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