NOTES for Luk 20:45-47; Luk 21:1-4
Today, when the story of the poor widow is told, it is not so much about money as about something far more important, of which money becomes a symbol. Money plays the same role in society that blood plays in the body. It flows and nourishes; it envelops society in a network like the web of vessels in our body; it connects us to one another as blood connects the different members. And so, when we give money, we seem to become donors. What does every donor feel after giving blood? Fatigue and weakness, which may last even a week or longer. Mercy likewise does not leave us without loss of blood. Does the Lord then want all our blood to be taken from us, “all she had to live on”? No. But the giving that leaves you weak, unwell, and facing other unpleasant things is Christianity itself; this is precisely what Nietzsche hated. Why have two half-dead people? Better to have one, but strong. There is such evident logic in this; it is so self-evident. If one forgets the soul... Why does a soul come to earth? Even when the Lord sees that a person is now being created who is destined for a painful lot of illness and poverty, say, when the parents are alcoholics, He sends a soul into that body. He cannot do otherwise, which means that this has meaning for Him. But does the Lord ask the soul whether it wants to enter this body? It cannot be otherwise; in any event, He gives His blessing. And then something takes place between that soul and God. Life is hard for the soul, yet it has its own mission here; it did not arrive here by accident. “Whoever believes in chance does not believe in God.” How can one fail to tremble before this miracle: the union of soul and body for the sake of meaning! How, then, can one refuse to give one’s blood, one’s money... if you are still standing while someone beside you can no longer stand?