As Jesus taught, he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have the best seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets! They devour widows’ houses and for the sake of appearance say long prayers. They will receive the greater condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the crowd putting money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which are worth a penny. Then he called his disciples and said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

Today’s reading from Mark presents a stark contrast. On the one hand, Jesus cautions against religious authorities who waltz around in fine robes bowing ever so slightly to accept greetings of recognition from marketgoers and positions of privilege from the people of power. On the other hand, Jesus holds up as exemplary the self-giving of the poor widow who placed in the common treasury all that she had to live on.    

In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius presents a similarly stark contrast in the Two Standards meditation. On the one hand, Ignatius asks us to consider the standard of the world with its upwardly mobile flash of riches, honors, and pride. On the other hand, Ignatius presents the standard of Christ with its downwardly mobile invitation to poverty rather than riches, contempt rather than honors, and humility rather than pride.  

Christ or the world. Which standard do you desire, truly desire? Which standard do you choose, truly choose? Poverty, contempt, and humility? Really?

Understanding human nature, St. Ignatius invites us to pray for the grace to want and choose the downwardly mobile standard of Christ. We pray for this grace not as meaningless sacrificial suffering but as the means to our own imitation of Christ, imitation that opens us to knowing Jesus more intimately, loving him more deeply, and following him more closely, all in service of Christ’s mission of bringing about a world made new in love. Might you pray for this grace today?

—Bill Lipscomb is a spiritual director with the Ignatian Spirituality Center and the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bill is a graduate of the Seminars in Ignatian Formation program of the Midwest Jesuits. Bill serves as a board member for the Ignatian Spirituality Project and as a spiritual reflector for the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. 

Lord Jesus,

I am far too much influenced by what people think of me.
Which means that I am always pretending to be either richer or smarter or nicer than I really am.
Please prevent me from trying to attract attention.
Don’t let me gloat over praise on the one hand or be discouraged by criticism on the other.
Nor let me waste time weaving imaginary situations in which the most heroic, charming, witty person present is myself.
Show me how to be humble of heart like You.

Amen

—Author Unknown (This prayer is likely derived from the “Litany of Humility” written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val)