Mc 12,38-44 – Saturday of the IX Week of Ordinary Time
“Beware of the scribes, who love to walk in long robes, receive greetings in the squares, have the first seats in the synagogues and the first places at banquets.” Jesus warns us against a very subtle temptation: living to be seen. Scribes are not condemned for what they do, but for why they do it. They have transformed their faith into a showcase, their religiosity into a search for consensus.
When the heart continually needs the approval of others, then it means that it has stopped seeking God and has begun to seek itself. This is why the Gospel immediately presents us with a completely different figure: a poor widow. Nobody notices it, nobody applauds it, nobody considers it important. Yet it is she who captures Jesus’ gaze. “This widow, so poor, has thrown more into the treasury than all the others.” In the eyes of men, quantity counts. In the eyes of God, love counts. The others offer something of their superfluity, the widow offers what is necessary for her life. Others give without compromising themselves, she gives herself over completely.
This is why Jesus sees in that gesture a greatness that no one else can see. Very often we are worried about doing big things, while the Lord simply asks us to love in a big way. Holiness does not consist in being extraordinary, but in living what is ordinary in an extraordinary way. The widow does not perform a miracle, does not give memorable speeches, does not occupy important positions, does not write books. He simply makes a gesture of total love. «In fact, they threw away part of their surplus. Instead, in her misery, she threw everything she had into it, everything she had to live on.” This woman reminds us that faith is always a question of trust.
You can give everything only when you are certain that your life does not depend on what you possess, but on the One to whom you entrust yourself. And perhaps the real problem of our spiritual life is that we often give many things to God, but rarely do we really give ourselves to him. The poor widow only has two pennies, but in reality she has the greatest treasure: a heart that knows how to rely completely on God. And this is worth more than any wealth.
Saturday 6 June 2026 – (Saturday of the IX Week of Ordinary Time – Even Year)
