St. Mark ironically seems to imply in his gospel (12:38-44) that the Pharisees are self sufficient, or so they think. The truth is that a single penny of a widow puts to shame the richness of the Pharisees. In fact, the importance of the widow's offering is not the "what," but the "who and how." Quality always surpasses quantity! Mother Teresa related to us the following story: "On my first trip along the streets of Calcutta a priest came up to me and asked for a contribution to the missions. I had left the house with five rupees and I had given four to the poor. I hesitated, then I gave the priest the one rupee left. That afternoon the same priest came to see me and brought an envelope. He told me that a man had heard of my projects and wanted to help me. There were fifty rupees in the envelope."