Chapter
14
by Fr. Thomas Keating
The Widow's Mite
Another light on the crisis of love is
given us in Luke's gospel. If you understand these four verses you have
understood Jesus Christ. It is one of the great revelations of God in scripture.
Jesus, one day, was making a visit to
the temple when, "Looking up he saw the people putting their offerings into
the treasury."45
It may have been a box
like modern churches have at the door. In any case, he had his eye on how the
collection was going. Some well-to-do folk were dropping offerings into the box.
He noticed a poor widow put in two small coins. At this his eyes filled with joy
and perhaps tears, and he said to his disciples, "I tell you the plain
truth. This widow, the beggar woman that she is, has put in more than all the
others. For all these other people took from their superfluities what they put
in as offerings to God, but his woman, in her extreme want, put in all that she
had to live on."
Just
before this event, Jesus has a few words to say about the scribes. "Beware
of the scribes who fancy fine robes for outdoor wear and crave ceremonious
greetings in public places and front seats in the synagogues and places of honor
at meals. These men that devour the fortunes of widows and recite long prayers
for show will receive a more than ordinary punishment."46
Jesus
despises show in general, especially a pious show. And then comes this sweet
little lady. She had no idea that Jesus noticed what she did. As far as we know,
she never knew what a hit she made with Jesus. He did not call her aside
afterwards and pat her on the back. Nor was there any refund for her generous
offering.
Who is
this widow? First of all, she was a widow, that is to say, she had no husband to
support her. She was also a beggar woman. She had lost all material support. She
put her money "into the treasury," by which we may understand the
treasury of the Church, out of whose merits all sinners are saved and saints are
sanctified. She put in all she had, which was two small coins. We might take
these two small coins to stand for what constitutes human nature, namely, body
and soul. She had no superfluities, that is to say, she had nothing to offer
except body and soul. But because it was all she had, she put in more than all
the others.
Does
not that remind us of the doctrine, repeated over and over again in the gospel,
that what God is looking for from us is a gift, not just out of our pocket
money, but out of our inmost being: the gift of self? That gift is more precious
than all other things that we can offer him, which might be called
superfluities: natural gifts, such as preaching, teaching, administration,
sociability; charismatic gifts, such as the gifts of tongues, working miracles,
healing the sick. These are the superfluities which many good people are
generously dropping into the treasury of the Church.
Along
comes this widow. She is a symbol of life entirely orientated to seeking God and
nothing else.
She
has very little to offer. She has only her poverty, loneliness, and
weakness--her extreme want.
This
is exactly the sacrifice that Job, after devil went to work on him, was offering
to God upon the dunghill.47
All his good things, his human achievements, his dignities--what I call here his
"superfluities"--had been taken away, and he was offering to God the
radical gift, the gift of himself.
If
we have penetrated the meaning of this incident, we have understood the mystery
of a hidden life of prayer and its power. Although we certainly want to make
reasonable use of our talents, serve others, and do our duties well, these are
not the most essential things. The gift that God wishes us to offer is much more
difficult than all other kinds of service because it is the total gift of our
being--our inmost self--whatever this actually is. It usually includes much
weakness and sinfulness. And these are what tend to predominate in our
consciousness. This offering of our spiritual destitution is a gift for which
there may be no refund in this life. We please Christ when we have nothing to
show for long years of service and yet still go on serving him. But when such a
person gets to heaven, there is going to be a tremendous revelation!
Few
people aspire to this gift. Perhaps that is why the Church is in such a divided
state today. These two small coins, or rather the total gift of self which they
represent, do not fall into the "treasury" too often. Jesus was
looking at the treasury precisely to obtain for himself the joy of seeing this
poor widow come along and drop in--they made no noise because they were so
small--her tiny gift. That is, after all, what the hidden life means, a gift
that is not especially noticeable. Its apostolic power consists in the fact that
it moves the heart of Christ, the source of all grace, so profoundly.
Footnotes
45. Luke
21:1-4. To text
46. Luke 20:45-47. To
text
47. Job
2:8. To Text
More information can
be obtained by reading the book Crisis of Faith/Crisis of Love by Fr. Thomas Keating. It is offered in our
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