There is a beautiful verse from St Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians in which he writes, “Everything indeed is for you!” For those of us who are parents, this phrase expresses how we feel toward our children. We want our children to be happy and we are willing to do everything within our power for them to experience true happiness. God is the quintessential parent. God wants all that he has created to experience the fullness of happiness. We hear this expressed in John’s Gospel, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.” (John 3:16, NAB) If God’s will is to do everything for us so that we might find eternal happiness, are we willing to give fully of ourselves in return to God?
We are confronted with this question in today’s Gospel. Jesus and his disciples sit opposite the Temple treasury and observe the people contributing money to the treasury. Jesus points us that the rich, though contributing a lot of money, give from their surplus. In contrast, the widow gift, small in amount as it is, is her livelihood, the very funds upon which she feeds and houses herself. The rich hold back what they could truly give, while the widow gives totally of herself. Jesus’ observation forces us to examine our generosity of self to God. It is not just about what we place in the contribution basket on the weekend. Rather, are we willing to give totally of ourselves back to God, or, do we like the Pharisees and the rich of Jesus’ time, hold back, and, only give a small portion of ourselves to God?
Are we willing, like the widow, to completely detach ourselves from not only material possessions, but detach ourselves from the pride and pretentiousness of our lives, and depend entirely and solely on God? If we truly wish to experience the full blessedness and joy of God we must live lives in which everything indeed is for God.
