Among other activities in our church, I assist counting the Sunday collection every six weeks or so. This is not a leisurely task of scrutinizing or gossiping over contributions from givers. Rather, this is one of those chores that you do out of necessity- you count, you record, you deposit and you get on with the rest of Sunday. Frankly, it is unusual to give a second thought to who is giving or how much.

The plastic bag is what caught my attention. It was one of those sandwich size zip-lock types. It was opaque and wrinkled from repeated use for one purpose or another. The contents were an assortment of coins- pennies, nickels, dimes and one quarter. The contents of the bag totaled $4.44.

Several Sundays have come and gone since that day but I continue to wonder, No, not wonder but pray for the donor. The single quarter took me back a few years. My change jar was void of quarters during the period I lacked a washer and dryer. My quarters were deposited in the laundromat bank. The plastic bag communicated thoughtful convenience for the collection counters. And the sum of $4.44. Could the widow with two copper coins in Luke’s gospel be living in our parish, or is this a child being instructed in supporting the Church.

I wonder and then I recall the Letter to the Hebrews 13:2.