The Generosity of a Widow, The Courage of 10,000+ Martyrs

I love it when God grants me an especially fruitful prayer time on a busy Monday morning.

In my world these days, a 24/7 workweek sometimes renders “Monday” insignificant. But this morning, my “office” actually has a desk and is in California! And today’s “to do” list has me digging myself out of a huge backlog of work. So I needed this morning’s quiet time to prepare me for what lies ahead.

And “prepare me” is an understatement. Because today, we have bountiful spiritual nourishment from heaven. The gospel passage, while short, packs a punch. While I’ve always read this gospel of the “Widow’s mite” as a reminder to give generously of my gifts, even when they are meager, Pope Francis gave us a compelling lesson on humility in his homily today on Luke 21:

“When the Church is humble, when the Church is poor, even when the Church confesses her wretchedness – we all experience this – then the Church is faithful. The Church says: ‘I am dark, but my light comes from there!’ This does us all good. Let us pray to this widow who is certainly in  Heaven, to teach us to be the Church like this, giving everything we have in life: leaving nothing for us. Everything for the Lord and for others. Humble. Without boasting of having our own light, always seeking the light that comes from the Lord”.

Today, I am asking myself how I can be humble and generous, like the Church Pope Francis describes, and like the widow in her “Yes”.

Another source of inspiration today is the memorial of Saint Andrew Dŭng-Lạc, Priest, and his Companions, know to us as the Vietnamese Martyrs. We know that Saint Andrew gave his life to his faith, working in the mission fields of Vietnam and ultimately dying a martyr’s death. With him today, we celebrate the thousands of Vietnamese martyrs, most nameless to us, who so passionately believed in our Creed that they were willing to give themselves fully and ultimately to what they professed.

Today, as I go about my busyness, I hope to embrace the generous humility of the Widow and the fiery courage of St. Andrew and his brother and sister martrys. May my “Yes” to God emulate the best parts of their lives.