Ponder Points: Overflowing

Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.

The kind of giving that one is called to do goes outside of the economy of exchange, which considers giving as acceptable only if one can receive in exchange or what is given is in excess. Instead, one is asked to give wholly, without any reservation, without any expectation. Through the example of the old, poor widow, the Lord wants us to see that everything in one's life is not for one's own sake only, for everything is meant to be directed in the service of the Other, for one has been given not to keep it, but to let it radiate outside, beyond the self.

The Lord invites us here to enter the order of love, which goes over and outside the economy of exchange and equal worth. Because we have been given more than we ask for, we are called to give more than we can. And it is only when we empty ourselves of anything that we become ultimately ourselves.

To be, as given, is to give as well.