She, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood

25 NOVEMBER (Lk 21,1-4)

One never goes empty-handed before the Lord. The Law of God teaches it.

“Three times a year you shall celebrate a pilgrim feast to me. You shall keep the feast of Unleavened Bread. As I have commanded you, you must eat unleavened bread for seven days at the prescribed time in the month of Abib, for it was then that you came out of Egypt. No one shall appear before me empty-handed (Ex 23,14-15).

“To me belongs every first-born male that opens the womb among all your livestock, whether in the herd or in the flock. The firstling of an ass you shall redeem with one of the flock; if you do not redeem it, you must break its neck. The first-born among your sons you shall redeem. “No one shall appear before me empty-handed (Ex 34,19-20).

“Three times a year, then, every male among you shall appear before the Lord, your God, in the place which he chooses: at the feast of Unleavened Bread, at the feast of Weeks, and at the feast of Booths. No one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed, but each of you with as much as he can give, in proportion to the blessings which the Lord, your God, has bestowed on you (Dt. 16,16-17).

One does not refuse the Lord anything, whatever he asks. Even if he were to ask our own life, you need to give it to him instantly. It is already his. It is not ours. Everything is his, and he must always be able to dispose of everything. Nobody might ever be able to give to God, without the foundation of a true, strong, genuine and firm faith. The God that demands everything is also the God who gives back what he received in an overflowing measure. Elijah asks for a bun to satisfy his hunger. God gives the woman buns for all the time of the famine.

After some time, however, the brook ran dry, because no rain had fallen in the land. So the LORD said to him: “Move on to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have designated a widow there to provide for you.” He left and went to Zarephath. As he arrived at the entrance of the city, a widow was gathering sticks there; he called out to her, “Please bring me a small cupful of water to drink.” She left to get it, and he called out after her, “Please bring along a bit of bread.” “As the Lord, your God, lives,” she answered, “I have nothing baked; there is only a handful of flour in my jar and a little oil in my jug. Just now I was collecting a couple of sticks, to go in and prepare something for myself and my son; when we have eaten it, we shall die.” “Do not be afraid,” Elijah said to her. “Go and do as you propose. But first make me a little cake and bring it to me. Then you can prepare something for yourself and your son. For the Lord, the God of Israel, says, ‘The jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.'” She left and did as Elijah had said. She was able to eat for a year, and he and her son as well; The jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah (1Kings 17,7-16).

The woman cannot appear before the Lord empty-handed. She collects in the house the loose change she owns and goes to the temple. What God asks she is able to return it to him. This is the faith that animates this woman. But even if he were not to give it back, God has the right to receive what is already his. In this sense, faith is also liberating from any return. One does not give to God so that he gives to us in return. He gives and that is it. We deprive us to give to him. This is the law of true love. If we do not enter into this dynamic of the true faith and true love, we get lost. We will always live with our God an exchange and not a love relationship.

When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. He said, “I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”

Today, the temple of God are the poor of the earth; the new temple of God is Christ the Lord, who identified himself with them. When we go before the presence of this new temple of God, never must we go empty-handed. We must always scour our home and find in it the last change, so as to offer them in obedience to this eternal law which is the law of charity and mercy. If we do not enter this vision of faith, never will we enter the eternal temple of God which is his Paradise.

Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints, give us the true vision of faith.