Monday, November 25, 2013. 

Today's Liturgical Reading by Daily Flash, Goa. 

Feast of St. Catherine of Alexandria. 

Daniel 1:1-6, 8-20; Psalm Daniel 3:52-56; Gospel : Luke 21:1-4. 
In Old Goa: Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 125[126]: 1-6; 2 Corinthians 10:17-18, 11:1-2; Gospel : Mathew 10:28-33. [Please share today's Gospel with family, friends/neighbors.]

Focus:  “She out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:4)

A story is told about a man who declared that if he had two houses, he would give one to the poor, if he had two shops, one would go to the poor. “And what if you had two cars,” someone asked, idly.  “NO.” said the man. “Why not?” “Because I have two cars!” the man replied.

Our generosity is often wishful thinking. The widow (today’s Gospel) was probably very poor.  Social conditions for widows were, at the time, terribly unjust.  They are somewhat better in our own day, but there are still millions of women unemployed, uneducated, shunned as harbingers of bad luck – because they have lost their husband.

Even if this particularly reprehensible kind of injustice is being gradually righted, the poor remain in our midst, often because we meanly grudge them a generous wage.  We might cheerfully spend more on a formal set of clothes that we are prepared to pay as a monthly wage to our domestic help.

If we were to follow this particular poor widow whom Jesus points out and commends (Focus) back home from the temple, would we find her in despair? Rather, from her gesture of giving all she had, we witness her absolute trust in God’s providence.

Fruit:  Can we give with the same understanding that God pleads with us to be generous, and not to be afraid, because He is the Provider?