The Gospel of Mark, chapter 12:42-44

Who are the most powerless and neglected people? In Jesus’ day, and for centuries before, the most powerless people in society were the young widows with children who had no means of support. Many of them starved to death and had to watch their own children do the same. In the ancient world, there was no one so pitiful as the impoverished widow. In today’s gospel we meet such a woman. Jesus does not discriminate between men and women, widowed or married. He loves all equally and is as much at home with the poor as with the rich. In today’s story, it is the poor widow, not the rich folks, who makes the largest offering to the church because she gave all that she had, little though it was.

The place of women in society has changed since the days of Jesus but many of our prejudices remain. Today, women as well as men are among the leaders and educated of society. They can possess and earn money in their own right. They fill important offices in government, business, and the professions. Still, studies show that women doing the same work as men are sometimes paid less money. Some professions refuse to admit them and membership in some groups is forbidden. Yet, times are a-changing. Barrier after barrier begins to fall leaving us with the realization that a person’s sex is much less important than a person’s worth or virtue. What our world needs is justice and love, justice and love for all-men and women, rich and poor. When equality based on merit is denied to one group, it sets the precedent of denying it to every other group as well.

It is hard for many to realize that God has no gender. While we do not flinch at calling God our Father, we invoke the divine power which bestows the fatherly and motherly attributes of love, compassion, tenderness and concern for all God’s children, great and small.

The wonderful woman in today’s gospel-the widow who put two small coins into the collection at the Temple, representing all she could give, is an example of generosity. The message of the gospel is not prejudiced; it is for all women and all men.

The gospel, if we accept it, liberates us from sin, from selfishness, and from prejudices based on race, color, creed or sex. Women who strive to apply the gospel to their lives and pass it on to others are liberated women because they are spirituality alive.

Let us strive to be as generous as the widow in today’s gospel.

Fr. Hugh Duffy