“A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributions to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”
In this world filled with so much materialism, small contributions, like that of the widow, will never attract the eyes of the social media. The social media has become our modern gauge of approval and success. Only the rich and the famous make it to the topmost list of the approval ratings based on this crazy arena of the social media. If you give a large amount to people, you will earn their approval. But if you gave a small amount of support, they will not even look at you because you are nothing to them.
There are a thousand ways to get rich in this world. There are those who are industrious and talented, and benefit from their inherent abilities and diligence. There also those who are just waiting for lady luck to smile on them, so they spend their little money to place their bets and hope to hit the jackpot prize. Likewise, there are also those who choose to get rich illegally getting their easy money with a bonus of headache plus the fear of getting caught. And, of course, there are those who will try their luck in politics, even if they are incompetent to this noble career, seeking only money and power.
Once they succeed in enriching themselves, the next part of their program is to capture the world enslaved by the social media. You will see them donating substantial amounts of money here and there with photographers, reporters, vloggers surrounding them. The next minute, they will invade the TV screens and social media. For sure, people will appreciate them and clap their hands untiringly because of the quantity of their contribution.
Now, on the other end, no one gives notice to a small amount of help given by a poor person to another person in need. There is no place in our world today for a poor father who is working day and night so that his family may have something to eat and send his children to school. I believe that, even inside our own homes and families, we have a lot of things to do to retrace our steps to our Christian principles. Do we still hear of a mother thanking her husband because he worked hard in the fields all day just to provide for the needs of his family? Do we still hear a father thanking his wife because she did the laundry until her hands get bruised? Do we still hear our children thanking their parents because of their sacrifices for them? Do we still see families praying in thanksgiving to God before partaking of the food on their tables?
We have lost our ability to appreciate those little but valuable things that are given to us by simple people who are so honest with their trade. These people who were not tempted to go out of the way of the cross in exchange of a bigger amount of dirty money. Rich people may eat high-class foods, and the poor ones may eat the cheaper ones. But, just the same, those foods will come out with the same color, the same texture, and the same smell when they get flushed out by our systems.
My dear friends, let us not be carried away by what is fashionable and by what is accepted in this crazy world we live in. Let us all go back to the basic of our Christian values and principles because Christ did not teach us how to become materially rich, but rather humility enjoying pure joy and contentment with what we have. The essence of helping others is not found on the quantity of what we give, but on the quality and on the purity of our intentions to help them. Let us teach our children, and the entire world on how to appreciate even those petty things that we receive from other people who gave them out to us with a pure intention of helping us. Maybe, it is also what they need, but still they gave it away to make you feel comfortable. Maybe, it is all that they have, and still they chose to give it away because of love. Appreciate them so that they will be inspired to give more and be a model for others to follow. Christ gave it all up on the cross because of his too much love for the sinful you and me. Let us love him in return by loving others, especially those who are in need.