This poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood. // Mark 12:43-44
She was a quiet woman, the kind who really didn’t have the headspace for a lot of idle chit-chat. She found herself welcoming home her newborn nephew whose parents could not care for him. I sat with her as we talked about options to feed this baby who would be separated from his mother. I urged her to take two cans of formula from our center’s donated items instead of only one.
Resolutely she shook her head and thanked me for one, and then swiftly left to return home to her nephew and the other little ones in her care.
I knew what she knew . . . that despite her difficult circumstances there were those in her community who likely needed that extra can of formula even more than she did. And that she would manage, by God’s provision, with what she had.
Her generosity in that moment stayed with me for a long time, sister. How easily I cling to things that I feel are owed to me, while this woman so willingly shared from her lack to bless another woman in her community. Just like the widow in today’s Gospel (see Mark 12:38-44) she gave from the very little she had. No one would have judged her for taking a little extra, but she chose instead to trust.
Where is the Lord asking you today to loosen your grip and give where you think you just don’t have enough? Does He desire that you tweak your budget so that you can tithe a little more to the Church? Has He placed it on your heart to share your limited time with a person who you know feels lonely and abandoned? Ask Him today to multiply what is meager and to embolden you with a spirit of generosity.
Karen Schultz hails from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, where she is often found in or near one of them. As a doula, lactation educator, and FertilityCare Practitioner, she finds joy in helping women to embrace the gift of their bodies. Downtime is found in quiet adoration chapels, farmers markets and gardens, and listening to bluegrass music. She is the author of Blessed Conversations: Misericordia.
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