You're listening to I Pray with the Gospel on the St. Jose Maria Institute podcast.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me.

I adore you with profound reverence.

I ask your pardon for my sins and the grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My immaculate mother, St. Joseph, my Father and Lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

The feast of the presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

A reading from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 21.

He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins, and he said, truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them, for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.

Today's gospel brings to our consideration the virtue of generosity. Jesus was moved when he saw

that poor lady giving out of her poverty all that she had. It's easy to give away toys and clothes that we no longer use.

And we could have that attitude with our Lord sometimes, giving him the remains of our time,

to pray if I have time, to go to Mass if I have nothing else to do,

to say the rosary if I can fit it in on the train or the bus.

Consistency in your life of prayer, in your Holy Mass, in your time for God,

because if we are not constant and we can only pray when we have time

or when we feel like praying, we can't become intimate friends with him.

It is difficult to be consistent. It is especially difficult

if we don't see the changes that our dialogue with Jesus produced in us. But even if we don't see

the effects, God is acting in our souls when we spend time with him. It is like sunbathing.

If you are exposed to the sun's rays, you get tanned. You may not notice

it much, but when you meet your friends again, after a while, they notice and ask you,

where have you been? A man published a letter in a newspaper announcing that he had decided

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