Homily for Saturday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time

The phrase "widow’s mite," which finds its origin in today’s Gospel passage, has made its way into the English language as a metaphor describing something small, which exhibits a great generosity of spirit. The widow placed a very small amount of money to the temple treasury but, in giving those two nearly worthless coins, she gave away all that she had to live on. Jesus points His disciples toward her as an example of generosity of spirit. Throughout His ministry, Jesus showed that He believed there was much to learn from the goodness of simple and ordinary people. 

Today’s Gospel passage takes place in Jerusalem, shortly before Jesus’ Passion, death, and Resurrection. This woman who gave everything was symbolic of the sacrifice He was about to make on the Cross, giving away everything - His very life - for us. This seemingly insignificant widow, who had practically nothing to give was, in reality, an example of immense generosity.

The widow reminds us that there are saints among us that may go unnoticed. Generosity of spirit is often expressed in simple and ordinary ways. There can be times in our lives when we have very little, but if we are generous with the little we have, we are immensely generous and rich in the eyes of the LORD.+