FIRST READING
They had the name of Christ and his Father written on their foreheads.
A reading from the Book of Revelation Revelation 14:1-3.4b-5
I, John, looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven like the sound of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder; the voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, and they sing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who had been redeemed from the earth. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes; these have been redeemed from mankind as first fruits for God and the Lamb, and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are spotless.
The word of the Lord.
RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 24:1-2.3-4ab.5-6 (R. see 6)
R/. These are the people who seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world, and all who dwell in it.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the rivers he made it firm. R.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy place?
The clean of hands and pure of heart,
whose soul is not set on vain things. R.
Blessings from the Lord shall he receive,
and right reward from the God who saves him.
Such are the people who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. R.
ALLELUIA Matthew 24:42a.44
Alleluia. Watch, therefore, and be ready; the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect. Alleluia.
GOSPEL
“He saw the poor widow put in two copper coins.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke (Luke 21:1-4 )
At that time: Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury; and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins. And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today’s Reflection
In the gospel reading of today, Jesus sets the poverty stricken widow as an example of a generous giver. He sees beyond the physical appearance and beyond human calculations. He noted the generosity of the poor widow. She gave all that she had to live on. Others gave out of their super abundance. What she did could only be motivated by deep faith, trust, total reliance and dependence on God. According to mother Teresa of Kolkata, it is when we empty ourselves that God can fill us with an abundance of his blessings. It shows also that the woman in the gospel story is detached from earthly possessions. The more detached we are to worldly possessions, the lighter we are to climb the mountain of the Lord.