The Poor Widow’s Rich Offering!

Monday, November 24, 2025

Dan 1:1-6,8-20; Lk 21:1-4

Today’s Gospel highlights Jesus’ praise for the poor widow’s rich offering. 

Why does Jesus praise the poor widow’s offering? Unlike the wealthy, who showed their reliance on their wealth more than God, the poor widow manifested her reliance on God rather than those two small coins on which depended her daily livelihood. 

In Jesus’ view, she put in more than all the rest because, with regard to God, giving is not measured in amounts but in trust. For Jesus, the wealthy were so poor that they could only rely on their riches, not God. But the poor widow was so rich that she could rely on God more than anything else, and this is why she readily parted with the two small coins she possessed.

The wealthy, by relying on their wealth rather than God, reveal their security mindset. They give only what they can comfortably lose. But the poor widow reveals her providential-reliance mindset because she trusts God’s providence more than what she possesses. 

This is why Jesus lifts the poor widow as an example of discipleship. 

We might often conclude that true security comes from possessing much. But Jesus highlights what we easily overlook.

True security comes more from trusting God than anything else. The poor widow becomes an example of the truth. 

Let us pray that we may be edified by the poor widow’s rich offering and follow the same in our lives. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar