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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the environmentalist and theologian Dr Ruth Valerio

Good morning.

In 2020 Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made the single-largest charitable contribution when he pledged $10 billion to set up a fund to help fight the climate crisis.

A very different charitable gift was noticed one day when Jesus was sitting with his disciples in the temple courts, teaching the people who had gathered around. Milling about were teachers of the law in flowing garments, wanting to be noticed and honoured, and a steady stream of wealthy people putting their gifts into the temple treasury. But then Jesus saw a woman, who he knew to be a widow living in poverty, putting in two very small copper coins.

I wonder how she approached the treasury. Was she embarrassed? Did she hope to slip in and put in her coins quickly so no one would see how little she was giving? She certainly wasn’t wanting to attract any attention.

But Jesus notices and draws a stunning conclusion: ‘this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on’.

We tend to see Lent as a time of giving things up, but it is also a time of giving. Alongside prayer and fasting, a third and often neglected pillar is that of ‘almsgiving’: giving our money to help those in need.

Jesus is adamant that it’s not about quantity but quality. God looks for a cheerful and generous giver who gives not just out of a sense of duty, but from a sacrificial heart that wants to bless others in the way that we have been blessed.

Generous God, show me where I can be generous today. Whether I have a little or a lot, help me to use my money to help others.

Amen.

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