Throw in your 2 cents! Gospel reflection for 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

I often wondered where the expression "throw in your 2 cents ", originated from. Well today as I was praying with the Gospel for this Sunday, the penny dropped (pardon the pun!). Whilst it has come to mean to voice an opinion or to express a view, in the past it was also associated with gambling, to throw your last two cents on the gambling table, to risk losing everything.

In the Gospel  we will see the woman, a widow, in the Temple in Jerusalem who puts everything she has into the offering box...2 small coins. When you have a moment find 2 little 1 cent coins...they're very small, tiny! Hold them in your hand and imagine this is your life savings, your whole financial stability. Then give them away....freely, selflessly , no drama. Could you do it? 

I always recall my nieces when they were toddlers and used to go to Mass with my mother. She would give them 2 coins, a bigger coin the 50 cent and a smaller coin, a euro. The 50 cent was for the donation basket and the euro for the treat in the shop after Mass. However cue child logic where the larger coin obviously must have the larger value and the smaller coin, the smaller value. So the collection basket got the more valuable coin, albeit smaller. It didn't take them to figure it out though!! Yet we can be like this - underestimating or miscalculating the value of what we offer to God through His Son.

In the Scripture, we see that God's logic is not human logic. His measure of loving is not comparable to our impoverished way of loving. One might think that the Gospel today is about making reckless financial decisions and jeopardising our economic stability. This is not the case. Rather it is an invitation to trust in God's amazing providence. Trust-surrender-believe-receive! Or as St. Oscar Romero would say: 'I can't, You must, I'm Yours, lead me.'

When we live simply, it allows others to simply live. When we give freely, we are not possessed by our possessions. We don't take a gamble with God because in loving and following Him you will never lose. There is no need for worrying whether the ball will fall on the black or red of the poker game of life because life with Christ is not a poker game

 of winners and losers. God plans every good gift for each person to bring them to the fulness of life. Every breath is planned, every heartbeat counted. You may give your 'two cents' and it may cost you the earth but you may gain Heaven. With God, you will always walk away richer than you can ever expect. His grace is enough!  If you are clinging tight to whatever those 'two cents' represent in your life for what you are holding back, then those clenched fists will never open up to receive all that our God of Providence wants to put in your hands. Today may you hear the nudge of the Holy Spirit to open wide your hands and heart, don't hold back for God is never outdone in generosity !