Poverty is what can make us grateful for everything we have. One new blouse does not get lost among all the other hangers in the cupboard. One new book becomes a treasure, not just one more kind of recreation. No new toys, no new clothes, no new furniture makes us treasure what little of each of them we do have. Perhaps it is true that only poverty can give us a sense of what it is to be grateful for what you have and even more thankful for what you get for nothing. In our reflection reading today, Jesus, surrounded by his disciples, watches people putting offerings into the treasury. This was a place in the women’s courtyard, where there were collection boxes for the offerings of the faithful. Just then, something happens whose significance Jesus wants his disciples to notice: a poor widow puts in two coins of very little value. He describes this as the greatest offering of all, praising the giving of alms for this purpose, particularly by people who give part of what they need. This tiny offering moves our Lord because, in her case, it implies a big sacrifice. This goes to the heart of Jesus’ teaching on almsgiving as the practice of charity in the spirit of uprightness or justice. This focus is on caring for others in genuinely compassionate and just ways and doing so with grace and generosity. It’s all about loving our neighbors from the heart — in practical, generous ways — because of the love and grace God has shown us so that his righteousness and peace may fill the earth. The poor widow demonstrated true generosity, which is the essence of almsgiving. She taught us that we can move God’s heart if we give him all we can, which will always amount to very little, even if we offer our very lives.