1 Samuel 1:24-28a
“After he was weaned, [Hannah] took the boy with her, young as he was…and brought him to the house of the Lord…they brought the boy to Eli, and she said to him, ‘As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord.  I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him.  So now I give him to the Lord.  For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.’”

Mark 12:41-44a
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury…a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything…’”

2 Corinthians 8:2-3a, 5b, 12
“Out of the most severe trial, [the Macedonian churches’] overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.  For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability…they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will…For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”

God our Father, you open your generous hand to empty your riches upon us.

You did not withhold your firstborn Son, but freely gave him as a fulfillment of your covenant promise.

Because of this deep extravagance, may we in overflowing joy surrender our very lives in service to you.  Keep us from clutching our insignificant copper coins as if to be saved by them.

We ask this in the name of Christ, your precious treasure given for us and for our salvation.

Listen to ‘Take My Life and Let it Be’ by A New Liturgy