In one of the Gospel incidents, Jesus was sitting near at the entrance of the Temple, watching people rich and poor alike dropping their coins to the box, as temple offering. It did not escape his attention the action of the rich man dropping noisily (of course, how could that noisy action be hidden) his large amount of money into the collection box. People look at him. The rich man would have been satisfied by all the attention he got from the people. Everyone was impressed, except the Lord.

Another person came in and approached the same box and holding a single penny, she looked around whether people noticed her, dropping her one and only penny. She looked around to see if people are looking at her. When no one noticed her, she immediately put in here offering. The poor widow would have been satisfied when no one had payed attention to her action. Everyone was surely not impressed if they could have seen it. But not the Lord. The Lord Jesus is the only witness of her act; He was impressed. Jesus called His apostles and reported what he saw, what he was impressed upon:

Unknown to all, the widow drop her last penny. That money could have provided her with her last meal for the day; that could have prolonged her life.

True generosity does not count on quantity. Rather, generosity is a qualitative act of giving. The action of the rich man is not an act of generosity; it's only an act of giving. In fact, all persons can give. But not all those who give are generous. Jesus is not impressed by people who merely give their extras. He wants us to give all, which in the end, entails from us a sacrifice, a pain. The rich man gives, not the whole of his wealth, but the excess of his baggage.

The rich man, after giving those sum was not hurt of his action. Can he expect something meritorious from that? While the widow's penny is tantamount to the woman's life. What matters in giving is not the quantity but the sacrifice which accompanies that act. Without a sense of sacrifice, giving will not and cannot be raised to the level of generosity.

Money is not the measure and the criteria for us to enter heaven. If that is so, then, there will be no more beatitudes. If that is so, then, sacrifices are really abominable. If that is so, then, our human life ends in this materialistic world. If that is so, then, there is no more hope for a reward in heaven.

But life is greater than food or clothing or drink. Life is meant to serve God and to serve others no matter what the cost may be. Life is meant to follow our Lord Jesus who teaches us that the poor in spirit are blessed in the eyes of God.

Giving with sacrifice will not happen when one has no love for the one he/she had given his/her life. The source of generosity is LOVE. A person who truly loves is willing to sacrifice anything, even his/her whole self, just to give happiness to that someone. The widow loves the Lord, for she is ready to loose her very precious penny at the cost of her life. The widow made a sacrifice when she gave all.

That person who gives his excess does not show any act of generosity but only hypocrisy against that same virtue. He pretends to love the one he is giving. No wonder, Jesus calls the Pharisees of his time, hypocrites, precisely because of the same reason - they performed acts of charity without the basic denomination: LOVE.