How is $10 more than $100? We can’t see how this can be, but God always sees deeper than us. Today’s Gospel is an example of this. The rich offer large sums, but the widow who is poor offers more than them. We must go beyond what we can see in order to get at the truth which God shares. Yes, God calls us to support the work of the Church with money, but money is not the final result God is seeking. Regarding the small sum the widow offers, Jesus says, “She gave her whole livelihood.” The money was only a symbol of what was taking place in her heart. She was offering her whole being to God.
God gives us the ability to offer our whole selves in every Mass. The Mass is not only a celebration, it is not only a thanksgiving, it is an offering. Jesus Christ offers his entire being to the Father as a sign of his love. But he offers it not only as a sign of his love, he offers himself as a human being, as one of us. The Son became man and united with us so we too could offer our entire selves to the Father. We cannot see this happening with earthly eyes, but God can see it. When we come to Mass, we must come with the intention of offering our whole being to the Father with Christ.
We heard in the first reading Elijah asking for bread. This was the offering of the woman who had very little. This bread which Elijah asks for represents the Eucharist. God desires that we offer ourselves to him through the bread of life, the Eucharist. The water represents baptism, the oil represents confession. Already in the Old Testament the Sacraments of salvation were being revealed. When we come to Mass we offer ourselves in union with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. God wants us to do this with our hearts and our minds, even though we don’t see it.
Also we find difficult to see that every Mass is the same offering which Christ made to the Father on the Cross two thousand years ago. The second reading says that Christ offered himself to God the Father once and for all on the cross. Because Christ is divine, his actions are perpetuated through time, and thus all Christians throughout all of history are able to offer themselves in union with Christ. We are united to the same offering, not only with Christ but with all our ancestors who came before us. The offering that our deceased family were united to, we are united to as well.
When we listen to today’s reading, let us go beyond what we can see to the mysterious calling of God to offers our entire being to him. When we give ourselves to him, everything we have becomes his. We are open to him using it as he wishes. This doesn’t mean that we give all of our money away. No. The money can be in our pockets, but it is still his. The Holy Spirit will guide us in what we give and what we use for families. If we are giving our whole selves to him at Mass, then he will use us and our possessions as he wishes. Let us always remember to participate in the Eucharist with the intention of offering our entire being to God the Father, through, with, and in the Son.