Please read the passage before the homily.
Who is the widow, the one who put in all she had to live on? Would it not be interesting to be able to name such a generous person?
We do know someone that generous, one who would gladly give the shirt off his back to someone in need. It is Christ who approaches the treasury to drop in all he had to live on. The gospels reveal Jesus to us, sometimes quite openly and sometimes in disguise. No one else can say, “I loved so much that I gave my whole life for others.”
The reason why we do not give generously to others is that we are wealthy: we can afford to give something, but we balk at giving everything.
A pig and a chicken were discussing what to have for breakfast. The chicken suggested bacon and eggs, but the pig said, “No thanks, for you, that is a contribution, but for me, it is a commitment.”
We feast on the Eucharist. We eat and drink the Lord in his totality. How dare we do this unless we give our totality to others in their hunger and need.
The Campaign for Human Development helps lift people out of poverty. Giving trees challenge us to share our lives with others this winter. Groups collecting toys, hate and gloves, coats, and other things for the needy, challenge us to give as Christ has given.
We have a saying in Scripture (2 Corinthians 8:9) that Christ has enriched us through his poverty. Perhaps it is only by being poor that we can enrich others.
Perhaps our wealth declares how poor we are, when we cannot give up our wealth to gain genuine wealth. It is in shedding our wealth and becoming poor that we enrich others.
Christ is the widow. We see him approaching the treasury all that he has to live on. Like the widow, he is invisible, and we can ignore him. Let us see him, be impressed by him, and imitate him.