Dom Edmund Adams, Saturday Evening Mass
November 7, 2009

Let me make one point about Jesus' praise of the widow who gave the tiny contribution of all that she had.  It is not just about money, alms, giving to charity.  I'll give you one example -

Perhaps you have strong willpower, are free of bad habits, find it easy to do the right thing, are comfortable with constant prayer.  In these ways, you are rich; you can afford to give God something of your wealth.

But suppose your willpower is weak, there is a strong force of habit to keep you from virtue, and you have a restless temperament unsuited to prayer.  In these ways, you are poor, like the widow.

But you try.  You achieve a little distracted prayer; you postpone for a while falling into your bad habits, and each time you fall you get up and try again.  That is all you had and you offered it to God, who values it greatly and loves you for it.

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