One of the loveliest of all the people in the Bible is the widow in today’s gospel. We do not know her name, but what she did on one particular day caught the eye of Jesus and she has been remembered ever since.

In Luke’s gospel, Jesus has finally arrived in Jerusalem. He will spend most of the rest of his life in the Temple area. Most of his time will be spent in arguments with the Temple priests. But today, there are no confrontations. Jesus sees the widow deposit two small coins in the collection box.

In the Temple area, there were thirteen trumpet-shaped containers, wide at the mouth and narrow at the base. These containers were for offerings made by the people to the Temple treasury. Since they were made of metal, heavy coins of gold or silver would make a loud sound that everyone could hear.

Then, quietly, a widow approaches a container. Since her husband was dead and she apparently has no sons to care for her, she had no source of income. Luke’s gospel tells her only income was from begging.

She brings with her two small coins, now translated as pennies. But together they were worth a lot less than a penny. It was all the money she had in the world. Because they were made of copper and were very small, they would have made no sound when she put them in the box. No one took notice.

Except Jesus.

It is significant that she had two coins. She could have kept one of them. But she gave all the money she had. And Jesus noticed.

We don’t know what happened to the widow. But Jesus makes her an example of what genuine giving really is. It is a gift without expecting a reward, not even a thank you.

When I was a young priest, it was a custom once a year to publish the amount of donations each parishioner had given. Few people missed Mass on that day. That list gave the parishioners something to talk about for months to come. I never counted the collection when I was pastor, but I think it’s safe to say no one ever gave all that they had.

During this week’s Veteran’s Day observance, it is appropriate for us to remember a similar kind of generosity. We remember the generous service to our country given by so many over the history of this nation.

There are 22 million living veterans in the United States today. When someone is in the military, we call it “service”. Giving service for the sake of one’s country is a true gift. Sometimes that gift can be one’s very life.

Veterans Day is observed on Nov 11^th because that was the date World War I ended, 97 years ago. On that day, at 11:00 o’clock in the morning of the 11^th day of the 11^th month, all fighting was supposed to end.

But some people don’t follow the rules. Before the day ended, an additional 6,600 men were killed, among them a cousin of Fr. Jerry, your pastor.

I have long advocated the need in this country for young people to give some kind of service. Either in the military, in missionary work, in community action, as teachers or tutors. Service to others is not the best way to make a lot of money. But it is a good way to learn that life is more one’s own desires.

We are a rich country with a widely diverse people of many talents and gifts.

We are also a country of many Faiths. However, we are also becoming an apparently self-centered- or perhaps fearful- country. We don’t have to worry about that.

As long as there are young people ready to serve the nation, with their lives if necessary; as long as we have young people serving those who need a little help –or even a lot of help; as long as we continue- in the words of Abraham Lincoln- to serve the better angels of our nature, we are going to be just fine.

It doesn’t cost much to love one’s country and one’s fellow neighbors- less than two pennies.

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