And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.So, He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all…” (Lk.21)
We are taught that through the sacramental life of the Church, its ‘sacramental economy’, the Holy Spirit mysteriously empowers the significant events of our lives with divine grace. While not necessarily a significant event, the above well-known story of the widow’s mite demonstrates something about sacramental efficacy. From the lips of Jesus, we learn that the seemingly meager contribution of the poor widow is worth “more than all” the abundant gifts of the rich donors. From the perspective of our Lord this modest donation of her mites is spiritually potent, a kind of ‘might’. What is it that makes this so? What invisible impulse prompts the widow’s sacrifice? Are our post-modern minds so trained in the calculus of the quantifiable and empirical that we struggle to grasp Jesus’ admonition? Does our response, or lack thereof, somehow relate to our acceptance – or rejection – of the reality of spiritual potency?
That sacramentality is not easily understood should not surprise us. The word ‘sacrament’ itself was selected by the early Church as the Latin translation of the Greek word in scripture ‘mysterion’, which of course means ‘mystery’. Before the sixteenth century Christianity universally recognized seven liturgical sacraments: Baptism, Penance, the Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, and the Sacrament of the Sick. Generally, as a result of the Reformation, and with the exception of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, much of Christianity has since acknowledged only two – Baptism and the Eucharist – as legitimate sacraments. Even this latter one, now popularly known as ‘the Lord’s Supper’ or ‘Communion’ has for many, when celebrated at all, lost its sacramental distinction.
The Reformation in the sixteenth century was followed in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by what historians refer to as the Enlightenment. In addition to the many benefits it produced, this era with its extraordinary scientific discoveries also engendered a mistrust of anything not scientifically verifiable. In the minds of many mystery became superstition. One can understand how this ‘enlightened’ mindset leads many to consider the concept of sacrament to be outlandish. Similarly, in their minds religion becomes more a matter of sociology than of theology.
The Catechism states: The sacraments are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us. The visible rites by which the sacraments are celebrated signify and make present the graces proper to each sacrament. They bear fruit in those who receive them with the required dispositions. (CCC1131) This is in reference to the seven liturgical sacraments mentioned above.
However, in a broader sense any act such as that of the poor widow in Luke’s Gospel -where we allow and recognize the impulse of the Holy Spirit to align us with God’s will – is a sacramental act. Cannot Catholic philanthropy, which is a ministry, therefore be considered sacramental? When a giver and receiver share a resource in response to this spiritual potency are not the two brought closer each to the other and both to God?
The word ‘economy’ stems from the Greek ‘oikonomia’ signifying housekeeping. The advance of the Kingdom is well secured by its sacramental economy.
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