"she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.” (Luke 21:4)

"she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood.”  (Luke 21:4)
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Jesus,  noticing a poor widow putting in two small coins as offering to God,  said,

“I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest;"

The poor widow offered just "two small coins."

But Jesus says that she offered  'more than all the rest.'

How can it be more than what the rich folk's  gifts?

There are two points of view to decide the merit of anything :

quantitative point of view,

qualitative point of view.

Let us compare the merit of two donations,

one given by a millionaire

and the other given by a daily coolie.

The millionaire has donated fifty thousand rupees.

The Coolie  has donated just fifty rupees, that is, fifty percent of his one day income.

Whose donation is greater, the rich man's? or the poor man's?

From the quantitative point of view, the rich man's is greater.

But qualitatively?

The poor man's is greater,

because it is fifty percent of his income,

whereas,

the rich man's will fall very very low

if we consider its percentage of his income.

The poor man  is more generous than the rich man,

considering their donations' percentage of their  incomes.

In short,

the poor man has given more than he could,

whereas,

the rich man has given less than he could.

Now coming to the poor widow's offering,

she has offered all the money she had,

keeping nothing to herself.

This shows not only her generosity,

but also her full dependence on her Creator,

who,

she believes,

will provide her with her daily bread.

Suppose if you ask her,

"You have offered whatever you had. What will you do for tomorrow's sustenance?"

she would reply,

"My Heavenly Father knows how to take care of His child."

Jesus praises the poor widow

not merely for the sake of praising her,

but to teach us a lesson.

1. We fully belong to our Creator.

Whatever we have fully belong to Him.

2. We must dedicate whatever we have only for His glory.

3. We must have full confidence in his Providence.

If we fully accept the above words,

we will offer our Creator

whatever  we have,

just like the poor widow in the temple.

What are the main things that God has given us?

Our life,

our time,

our wealth.

We must live our whole life for God.

We must spend all our time for God.

We must spend all our wealth for God.

Looks curious?

No.

Quite normal.

Why were we created, according to our catechism?

358 "God created everything for man, but man in turn was created to serve and love God and to offer all creation back to him:"

Is it possible

to live our whole life,

spend all our time,

and

spend all our wealth for God?

It is not only possible, but also very  easy.

Very  easy?

Yes.

First we offer our life to God.

Once offered

we should not take it back,

which means,

we should not break away our relationship with God, 

which means,

we should not sin against God.

Every morning,

as soon as we get up,

we must offer the whole day to God.

That means,

whatever we do

we must do for the glory of God.

All our deeds done for the glory of God

become our prayer to God. 

"Jesus, I get up from my bed for your glory.

I brush my teeth for your glory,

take bath for your glory,

have my meals for your glory,

go to school for your glory,

study for your glory,

do my work for your glory."

The money we earn must be spent

not only for our personal welfare

but also for helping the poor and the needy.

What we do to others,  we do to God. 

We must  help to provide for the needs of our Holy Mother the Church.

In short, we must love God and live for Him.

This is what we learn from the poor widow

who "offered her whole livelihood" to God.

Lourdu Selvam.