When we recognize that all we have in life is a gift from God, we are moved to give back to Him who blessed us. God, through our parents, gave us life. He also gave us all of our talents expecting us to use those talents not only for ourselves, but to benefit others.
Whether we have been blessed with great wealth and many talents or only a little, we’re all called to share what we have with others. Jesus gave himself completely to us and we are called to respond not only to Him, but also to our neighbors. In the Gospel today, Jesus points to a poor woman who gave only two small coins. He didn’t highlight the one who donated the most money, but the one who gave the biggest share of what they had. This poor woman gave all she had and that’s what we are all called to do.
Although we may not be called to give away all of our wealth, we’re called to give ourselves 100% to God and our neighbor. The parable of the talents reminds us that those who used their talents to make more were rewarded, while the one who buried his talent and did nothing with it faced the consequences. God expects more from those gifted with more as well.
Most of us worry about how much money we’ll have for retirement. We put money aside today in order to save for the future, and we don’t just put it under the mattress, but in accounts that will grow with interest. The more money we save and more sacrifices we make today, the better life we will be able to live in retirement later. We should approach our spiritual life the same way. We need to be working to save spiritual bucks for our retirement in Heaven. The more we give to others today, the more joy we will experience in Heaven. Giving requires sacrifice. My lifestyle would be much more comfortable if I didn’t set aside any money for retirement, but my future self wouldn’t be happy. It comes down to would I rather suffer a little now or a lot later? Heaven is even more important than retirement because, unlike retirement, Heaven is everlasting.
It’s very rewarding to give to others both financially and in other ways. Regardless of your income, there’s always room to give. The poor woman’s two small coins were enough to catch the gaze of Jesus. Let’s try to always give Jesus many reasons to gaze upon us. If we are selfish and keep everything to ourselves, we will be poor in the end, but if we give, we will be blessed beyond measure in the life to come.
