Jesus had great sensitivity towards widows. He looked beyond the hardships of the poor widow’s situation, beyond what the human eye could see, and saw into her heart: ‘out of her poverty {she] has put in everything she had, her whole living.‘ He saw her faith-filled generosity, giving to the treasury not from her abundance and surplus but from all that she had to live on. Jesus knew that her generosity of spirit came from the loveliness and goodness of her heart – open to God and to those in need, filled with great faith and trust in God, and relying wholly upon God to take care of her needs.
Jesus is able to look into our hearts and see whether they are open and soft, or closed and hard. Our hearts are hard when we are only focused on ourselves, self-seeking, making ourselves the center of our lives. A hard heart is judgmental, critical, stingy, suspicious and supercilious and opinionated. It looks down on others, sees their faults and despises them. It thinks the worst of events. In sharp contrast, a soft heart is merciful, forgiving, humble and generous. It listens to others, overlooks their faults, serves them, and endeavors to make the most favorable judgement of people and the best interpretation of events.
How can we change our closed, hard hearts into open, soft hearts? The remedy that never fails is sorrowful repentance. As, by the light of the Holy Spirit, we recognize the areas of hardness in our hearts – the way we judge, belittle or condemn others, or the ways we are selfish, grudging or mean – we can bring these attitudes to Jesus in repentance. Then as we ask Jesus for forgiveness and healing, he changes our hearts so that we become gentler, kinder and more merciful and generous.