Lk 21, 1-4 This poor widow put in more than all the rest

Luke 21

(Lk 21, 1-4) This poor widow put in more than all the rest

[1] When he looked up he saw some wealthy people putting their offerings into the treasury [2] and he noticed a poor widow putting in two small coins. [3] He said, "I tell you truly, this poor widow put in more than all the rest; [4] for those others have all made offerings from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has offered her whole livelihood."

(CCC 2544) Jesus enjoins his disciples to prefer him to everything and everyone, and bids them "renounce all that [they have]" for his sake and that of the Gospel (Lk 14:33; cf. Mk 8:35). Shortly before his passion he gave them the example of the poor widow of Jerusalem who, out of her poverty, gave all that she had to live on (Cf. Lk 21:4). The precept of detachment from riches is obligatory for entrance into the Kingdom of heaven. (CCC 2208) The family should live in such a way that its members learn to care and take responsibility for the young, the old, the sick, the handicapped, and the poor. There are many families who are at times incapable of providing this help. It devolves then on other persons, other families, and, in a subsidiary way, society to provide for their needs: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world" (Jas 1:27). (CCC 2209) The family must be helped and defended by appropriate social measures. Where families cannot fulfill their responsibilities, other social bodies have the duty of helping them and of supporting the institution of the family. Following the principle of subsidiarity, larger communities should take care not to usurp the family's prerogatives or interfere in its life. (CCC 2210) The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society (Cf. GS 47 § 1) entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Civil authority should consider it a grave duty "to acknowledge the true nature of marriage and the family, to protect and foster them, to safeguard public morality, and promote domestic prosperity" (GS 52 § 2).