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.

Ponder Points: Servire, Dare, Amare

"Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Authentic service breaks out of the economy of exchange. To serve is not in view of gaining power or opportunity to stand above everyone else. It is to wholly give yourself wholly and willfully to everyone whom your presence will be of great help, to the tasks and responsibilities you are called to accomplish, to the community who expects from you because they trust you and you know that you can do great things. To serve is to actually do justice to your own existence, to bring it to its supposed fullness, a fullness that goes inward and not outward. To serve, ultimately, is to provide opportunities to love, to actually be without counting the rewards, the benefits, and the cost. To actually be taken aback by those people whom you are called to live and die for.

Thus, we are called to disrupt the economy, to show that life is not all about doing in view of something received. To orient ourselves towards service, towards giving ourselves in a thoughtful manner, even in times we are perceived to be villains trying to push others to do better or to exist for a greater purpose, is to say that happiness lies not in the things that we expect to get, but in the things we expect ourselves to give.

Indeed, service makes us a gift for others, a gift that the One who Fully Served to everyone whom He calls to be gifts as well.