REFLECTIONS TODAY
Offerings at Mass are opportunities to share in the realization of programs and projects of the parish/diocese. There is no pressure or obligation to do it, but certainly they are necessary for the growth of our Christian communities.
God continually endows us with his blessings, and so sharing these is an expression of our gratitude for his constant generosity. But God does not evaluate our offering by the amount we give.
As is often said that in giving, it is the heart or the degree of loving that counts. This is evidenced by the Lord’s approval of the poor widow’s mite which may be small in the eyes of human beings but, in the eyes of God, is extraordinary, as it represents, according to the evangelist, all that she has to live on. Yet, she does not worry what would happen next. She simply follows her inner desire to give all that she has to the temple.
Many of us do realize that the more we have, the more difficult it is to give or give generously. In contrast, those who have little have no second thoughts about how much to give, as they are convinced that God will look after their needs as he is the Creator and owner of everything.
May we be convinced that if we are generous with God, he will never leave us without.
First Reading • Rv 14:1-3, 4b-5
I, John, looked and there was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. I heard a sound from heaven like the sound of rushing water or a loud peal of thunder.
The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. They were singing what seemed to be a new hymn before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn this hymn except the 144,000 who had been ransomed from the earth.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They have been ransomed as the first fruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. On their lips no deceit has been found; they are unblemished.
Gospel • Luke 21:1-4
When Jesus 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.
