[Jesus] sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, “Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood.”

The movie "Cars 2" is a study of people who feel themselves to be less than others. The "lemons" of the car industry choose to organize themselves against those "others" who make fun of them and talk them down. They choose a violent path and retaliation. They had been hurt, and their only thought is how to repay those who had hurt them. It is one way of responding to the feeling of not being as privileged as someone else. There is another path, however, and it is exemplified in the movie in the "person" of Mater. Once he analyzed himself, he understood that he could be himself even though he may be "just a tow truck." He saw that he could respond to reality by improving who he was and doing the best he could at being what he was, even if it was something as lowly as a tow truck. His response is a positive one; the response of the "lemons" is a negative one. Our task in maturity is to choose the path that is beneficial to ourselves and others with the talents we have received.

The poor widow that the evangelist Mark speaks of in his Gospel no doubt realized her plight in life. She had very little, and therefore in the thinking of first century Palestine, was literally worth nothing. She understood completely that she was less than others. She could have felt sorry for herself, and lashed back at God or religion or others. But instead, she realized that God was still important in her life, no matter how lowly she felt. With that in mind, she gave what she could, and as Jesus points out to his disciples, she gave everything that she had.

Most of us are not as poor as the widow in Mark's Gospel, but most of us are not rich by any means either. In such a state, we may consider ourselves to be less than others, maybe even so far as to say that if we compare ourselves to cars, our lives are "lemons." Or using the same comparison that we are mere "tow trucks" who offer very little to the world of vehicle travel. In such a state, we have two choices to make with our lives--we can feel sorry for ourselves, and take it out on others. Or we can choose to do the best that we can with what we have.

The choice is ours. In the movie "Cars 2," we see what the "lemons" did, and unfortunately there are many in our world who choose such a course. They lash out at others, even trying to hurt them in order to take away their own pain in some way. They are to be pitied because they do not understand life. But, following the example of the widow in the Gospel, and indeed a simple "tow truck" in the movie "Cars 2," we can choose to be the best that we can given who we are and what our situation in life is.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you have allowed some of us to have many things in life, and some of us to have not so many. Give us the grace to be grateful for what you have given to us, and use what we have to the best of our abilities. Be with us, we pray.

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Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America