The Lesson of the widow's mite is presented in the Synoptic Gospels (Mark 12:41-44, Luke 21:1-4), in which Jesus is teaching at the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Gospel of Mark specifies that two mites (Greek lepta) are together worth a quadrans, the smallest Roman coin.
A lepton was the smallest and least valuable coin in circulation in Judea, worth about six minutes of an average daily wage.
In the story, a widow donates two small coins, while wealthy people donate much more.
Jesus explains to his disciples that the small sacrifices of the poor mean more to God than the extravagant, but proportionately lesser, donations of the rich.
As the recession lifted, poor and middle class Americans dug deeper into their wallets to give to charity, even though they were earning less.
At the same time, according to a new Chronicle analysis of tax data, wealthy Americans earned more, but the portion of the income they gave to charity declined.
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