Gospel Reflection for Sunday, November 10, 2024 – 32nd Sunday Ordinary Time

Sunday Readings: 1 Kings 17.10-16; Hebrews 9.24-28; Mark 12.38-44

Jesus sat opposite the treasury and noticed one poor widow came and dropped in two small copper coins, worth about a penny each. Jesus called his disciples, saying to them, “I want you to observe that this poor widow gave more to the treasury than all the others. They gave from their loose change what they could spare. But she in her poverty gave the pennies she had to live on (Mark 12.41-44).

The nameless widow expresses her faith in God by giving to the temple. She doesn’t ask as many of us might, “What will my two cents matter?” or “Will people make fun of how little I give?” Why does Jesus point her out to his disciples and to us? Because her gift is to the God of her faith. She gives all she has to God as Jesus does in his suffering and death. Her two cents and Jesus’ actions travel time as story, as Word, which survives the temple’s destruction in AD 70.

When the Church needs reform, we can return to the gospel word and recommit to Jesus’ teachings. As Christians, we appreciate the widow giving all she has just as Jesus gives his all in his ministry of healing and forgiving and dying at the hands of the Romans on the cross. The gospel calls us to give our faith and wholehearted commitment, our two cents, to bring love and mercy to our divided country and agonizing church.

• When has your two cents proved valuable and renewing in your parish?