23 November 2026 · Latin Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: Syro-Malankara Rite · Syro-Malabar Rite · മലയാളം
“He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”” Luke 21:3–4
In the last week of the year the Gospel turns to Jesus' final teaching in the Temple. He watches people putting gifts into the treasury. The rich give large sums; a poor widow puts in two small copper coins. Jesus says she has given more than all, because they gave from their surplus and she gave “all she had to live on”. God measures a gift not by its size but by the love and trust it carries.
In Revelation John sees the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with the 144,000 who bear his name and his Father's name on their foreheads; “these follow the Lamb wherever he goes”. The widow is one of them: she follows the Lamb who will soon give not two coins but his whole life. Total self-giving is the mark of those who belong to him.
Theme: “All she had.”
Those who follow the Lamb give themselves wholly, as the widow did.
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts, who do not lift up their souls to what is false, and do not swear deceitfully.” Psalm 24:3–4
“Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion! And with him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads.” Revelation 14:1
Apply: Make the Sign of the Cross with attention today.
“She went and did as Elijah said, so that she as well as he and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.” 1 Kings 17:15–16
“He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”” Luke 21:3–4
Apply: Give something that costs you.
“For the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
Apply: Review your giving this year honestly.
Small gifts given wholly are great before God.
Follow the Lamb who gave everything.
Take-home resolution: Decide on your Advent and Christmas giving to the poor now.
Dear friends, in this last week of the Church's year, Jesus sits near the Temple treasury and watches people putting in their gifts. The rich put in large sums; a poor widow puts in two small copper coins. Jesus says she has put in more than all of them, for they gave out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty gave all she had to live on (Luke 21:3–4).
God does not measure a gift by its size, but by the love and trust it carries. The widow trusted God with her whole living. That is why her two coins outweigh all the gold.
In Revelation John sees the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with those who bear his name and his Father's name on their foreheads; they follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Revelation 14:1, 4). The widow belongs to them: she follows the Lamb who will soon give not two coins but his whole life.
Let us ask ourselves honestly: do I give God what is left over, or do I give him my heart? Today, give something that truly costs you, in money, in time or in patience, and give it with joy. Amen.
Children, the poor widow gave only two little coins, but Jesus said she gave the most, because she gave with all her heart. Give Jesus your best today!
Lord Jesus, you saw the widow's two coins and praised her love. Teach me to give not only from my surplus but from my heart, and to follow you, the Lamb, wherever you go. Amen.
In the last week of the Church's year the weekday readings come from the end of the Book of Revelation and from Jesus' last discourse in Luke. Today they meet in two pictures of wholehearted belonging: the redeemed who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes”, and a poor widow who puts into the Temple treasury “all she had to live on”.
Setting.
Chapter 13 described two beasts, the powers that demand worship and put their mark on people's hands and foreheads. Chapter 14 answers with the opposite picture: the Lamb standing on Mount Zion with those who bear his name and the Father's name on their foreheads. Revelation was written to Churches in Asia Minor under pressure from the cult of the Roman emperor, probably in the 90s AD.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion!” (14:1)
The beast rose from the sea (13:1); the Lamb stands on Zion, the mountain of God's promises (Psalm 2:6). The name on the forehead answers the mark of the beast: every person belongs to someone.
“No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth.” (14:3)
The new song cannot be learned from outside; it is learned by being redeemed. Worship flows from salvation.
“these follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” (14:4)
Including to the Cross. “Virgins” in v. 4 is probably symbolic, as many interpreters hold: in the prophets, idolatry is called adultery, so these are the ones who kept themselves apart from the idols of the empire.
How the Church reads it.
St Augustine, writing on holy virginity, applied “they follow the Lamb wherever he goes” to consecrated virgins, while insisting that all the faithful follow the Lamb, each in their own way (in substance). The Church today hears it as a call to every baptised person: to belong to Christ with an undivided heart.
Setting.
Jesus is teaching in the Temple in the days before his Passion. Just before this scene he warned against scribes who “devour widows' houses” (20:47). Now a widow appears, poor and almost invisible. The offering chests stood in the Temple courts; Jewish tradition speaks of thirteen trumpet-shaped chests.
Structure.
Key words.
Verse by verse.
“Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;” (21:3)
God measures a gift by what is left behind, not by what is put in.
“but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.” (21:4)
Within days Jesus himself will give his whole life. The widow's gift is a small picture of the Cross.
How the Church reads it.
The Catechism points to the poor widow of Jerusalem as an example of the detachment Jesus asks of his disciples, who are to prefer him to everything and everyone (CCC 2544). The Church also reads the scene as a warning: a religion that impresses people while it consumes the poor stands under Jesus' judgment (20:47).
Should Christians give everything away like the widow?
Jesus praises her trust; he is not laying down a rule for everyone's finances. Each must give generously according to their state in life and duties to their family. The point is that the heart belongs entirely to God.