It is commonplace to hear people describe their little donations as their “widow’s mite.” However, most people fail to understand that the mite extoled in the parable is not about quantity but about the quality of the gift. According to Jesus while the rest gave from their surplus the widow gave all she had. The implication was that she went home with nothing to fall back on when she goes home. This is similar to the scenario played out in our first lesson today about the widow of Zarephath who the prophet Elijah met gathering some sticks to prepare the little food left in her house and then wait for death to come to her and her son.

From this woman the prophet requested some food which if given leaves her and her son with nothing. Like the widow in the gospel story she did give to the prophet—and can only wait for death to come. From her discussion with the prophet we know that what she had was quantitatively little, but was qualitatively great—similar to the gospel idea in the widow’s mite. Another similarity is that both gave to the cause of God believing that doing so was not an effort in self-impoverishment but expressions of faith in divine providence.

One simple thing that we all can learn from these stories is that the quality of our beings, gifts, words, and actions count more in the sight of God than their quantities. I guess also that it is the same in human relationships. With this standard it can be said that we all are richly endowed but unfortunately, we all do not exercise it equally. Sadly, most people in our world today think only about the quantity of their beings, their finances, their properties, their followers on Facebook, twitter, blogs, etc. And come to think about it, is it not the quality of leadership that will make our country great again? Is it not the quality of legislation that will make our country great again? Is it not the quality of adjudication that will make our country great again? Is it not the quality of citizenship that will make our country great again? Is it not the quality of parenting and education that will make our children great again? Is it not the quality of neighborliness that will make our communities great again? Yes it is!

Another thing these bible stories revealed is that people cannot live and act qualitatively without faith. It is a faith that knows that God can transform our qualitative best, no matter how little, into his abundance for our greater satisfaction. This was what Elijah meant when he told the woman that “Thus says the Lord, the jar of flour shall not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, until the day when the Lord sends rain upon the earth.” Because we don’t have faith in the God of abundance we continue to horde the earth’s resources thereby creating artificial scarcity. Because we don’t have faith in the God and father of all humanity we practice segregations, racism, and all forms of exclusionism. And we can go on and on. . .

So as we go to our churches this weekend and live our lives in the weeks ahead, watch if you are offering qualitatively to God or your spare change. Watch if your faith is able to accept others knowing that God’s call for us to love others will not diminish us but will make us great again.

Uju Okeahialam. PhD

Sacred Heart Church