Jesus watches!

Luke 21:1-4

21  1 While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people dropping their gifts in the collection box. 2 Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two small coins. 3 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. 4 For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.”

Food for thought!

Under the powerful watch of Jesus! 

As we begin our work week, providence has given us (again) this gospel reading. I suggest to take for our meditation the part that says that Jesus watched! He watched those men and women as they carried out their Temple duty of donating. I am sure the people did not know that they were being watched by Jesus.

The idea of being watched by God is not really new. In Mark 6:46-48, after telling everyone good-bye, Jesus went up into the hills by himself to pray. Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. HE SAW that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves.

Another time, reported in Matthew 9:9, Jesus was walking along, HE SAW a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

As Phillip and Nathanael approached Jesus, he said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel-a man of complete integrity.” “How do you know about me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus replied, “I SAW YOU under the fig tree before Philip found you.” (Jn 2:47-48).

These and others instances, show that Jesus shows up at our places or work; that he sees us as we discharge our daily duties at the place of work. Matthew the evangelist and apostle was even called from his desk, at work!

According to the Book of Genesis, work is a fundamental dimension of human existence on earth. Man, created "in the image of God... male and female" (Gen 1:27) hears the words: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen 1:28). These words indicate indirectly, beyond any doubt, that work is an activity for man to carry out in the world. With our work, we carry out the mandate received from our Creator to subdue, to dominate, the earth. In carrying out this mandate, God watches us.