Tony Worner, Leader of Formation for St Agnes’ Parish presents our Gospel reflections this week and today reads from the Gospel of Mark (12: 38-44) in which Jesus speaks out against hypocrisy and tells of the widow who gave all she had.

Tony notes that this is the last we will hear from Mark’s Gospel in this Ordinary Time. Next week we will hear from Matthew’s Gospel. Tony says, how attractive it is to see someone who loves genuinely… Think Mother Teresa. Today, Jesus shares with us a story of true generosity and total dependence on God through the action of a poor widow who contributes to the treasury all that she has. Jesus saw her put in two small coins, a few cents, and according to our standards, ‘nothing’. However, Jesus knows that she has given everything she had to live on, everything she possessed.

When it comes time to share, are we like the widow who shares ‘everything’ or do we give from our ‘leftovers’, from our abundance, from what is convenient for us to give.   Perhaps we might reflect on the extent to which we put the needs of others before our own, even when this means sacrificing ourselves. Do we trust that God will sustain us and provide what we need when we show generosity to others?

In closing, Tony invites us to pray, ‘Lord, teach us to be generous, teach us to love’.