We can do something and do it very well.
...[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
"Amen, I say to you, 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: 38-44)
Reflection
Stories of and about widows abound in both the Old and New Testaments. In most cases they stand for the countless women who lived desperate lives, with little access to basic resources unless they had the good fortune to have some male relative who could provide for them. Support and power in society came through the male. In Mark’s narrative this reality is starkly drawn with Jesus’ diatribe against the scribes offset by his observation on the activities taking place around the treasury of the Temple, followed by his singling out of the widow’s contribution. Most gave out of their abundance, she out of her impoverishment.
But maybe there are one or two other strands to consider. The Temple treasury functioned as a redistribution centre, a place where everyone, ideally, could have their basic needs met. So, her poverty aside, her action does reflect kindly on this particular aspect of Jewish society – namely, a woman in her situation could be made to feel she belonged, that her seemingly insignificant contribution could make a difference to something or someone, in a belief system that told her God would bless her action.
Perhaps it’s this kind of faith that is needed in a world where the immediacy of big programs, success and achievements are flashed in large print on society’s giant monitor. For most of us our faith journey is a series of small steps, with the occasional long stride thrown in if we’re lucky. But it is the small steps of the widow’s faith we need. Most times that’s all we have.
In the previous issue (October 2015) and in this issue of eConnections (November 2015) we are reflecting back on 15 years – what’s changed, what hasn’t, what are the ‘new’ areas of concern? The thread that runs through it all is the challenge to believe that what we do, however small, is contributing to something that is larger than ourselves and will lead to something better; that it will be in God’s time not ours.
Prayer
From the first edition of Columban Connections: “We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that…we can do something and do it very well. It may be incomplete but it is a beginning... an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.” (Oscar Romero). Amen to all of that.
Read more from the latest Columban eConnections