Care for the vulnerable, and practice generosity

Morning: Psalm 34; I Samuel 2:27-36; Acts 2:37-47

Evening: Psalm 91, 92; Luke 20:41-21:4

Jesus reserved his sternest warnings for those who took advantage of the vulnerable. Particular care should be given to strangers, orphans and widows. But the scribes hypocritically pretended to be pious – sitting in full view in the synagogue and saying long prayers – while bilking widows out of what little they had.  In contrast, Jesus praises the generosity of the widow who gives much more, proportionately, than the rich.  Such generosity became the hallmark of the early Church. By the practice of sacrificial generosity, the community grew in strength and in numbers.

Graham