Please read this passage before reading the homily.
Jesus observes a widowed lady making her contribution for the upkeep of the temple, the temple tax. Her two small coins are worth far less than the tax prescribed and she is therefore not obliged to pay the tax.
Why does she pay it? We do not know. She may have been shamed by the collectors of the tax, but we have no evidence of this. We cannot exclude the peer pressure of having seen others put in their coins, but we have no indications that this is so.
If she has been scammed, then she is like Isaiah’s suffering servant and is a Christ-figure. If she has generously given all she had to live on, she is likewise a figure of the Christ who loves us and generously gives us all that he had to live on.
Jesus says nothing of her reasons for contributing. He calls no one out for pressuring her. Rather he sees the widow, whom others perhaps did not see because widows were easily overlooked in society. He sees her and he sees what she did. He calls people to see her and her generosity. He calls us and sees us so as to challenge us to the same generosity.
Tuesday is giving Tuesday. We are invited to give generosity via the internet. We should also be cautioned not to talk others into giving when they should not or let them give more than they should. We are all invited to be as the widow and as Jesus who modelled for us self-giving.