Gospel (Lk 2,41-51) - Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover festival. When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival. But, after the days, while they resumed their journey back, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, without his parents realizing it. Believing that he was in the party, they traveled for a day, and then began looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances; Not having found him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, while he listened to them and questioned them. And all who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers. When they saw him they were amazed, and his mother said to him: «Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I, anxious, were looking for you." And he answered them: «Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must concern myself with my Father's affairs? But they did not understand what he had told them. He therefore went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. His mother kept all these things in his heart.

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

Surrounded by his disciples, Jesus is still in the temple. Here he observed what was happening in front of the treasure room which he had slots in the external walls into which pilgrims could pour their offerings, part of which were also used to help the poor. Many rich people threw away plenty of it. But then a poor widow approaches the offering wall. Nobody pays any attention to it, just as even today many people abandon old women and men without any scruple. Jesus instead looks at her carefully. And he sees that he throws two small coins into the alms slot, half of a “penny”. Jesus is struck by that widow's gesture. And already here the greatness of soul of Jesus' gaze emerges. Very different, thinking about our world in which the market seems to dictate the law, from the common feeling of people today who evaluate goods based on possession. The same thing could be said for alms. Many don't consider her because she doesn't solve anything. Indeed, there are quite a few who think it is even harmful. How far we are from the Gospel! Jesus, who scrutinizes the thoughts and feelings of the hearts, seeing that poor widow throw those two pennies into the temple treasury, proposes her as an example for everyone, exalting her greatness of heart and her generosity: "She threw away everything she had" , he kept nothing for himself. For Jesus, that poor widow, defenseless in the face of the harshness of society, is a model of life for disciples of all times. Even today you teach that no one is so poor that he cannot help others who are poorer than him.