+ Jesus makes a very interesting point in the gospel passage today: give alms, and behold everything will be clean for you (your sins and your iniquities). Giving alms has always held great weight in the Church. It can truly wipe away sins, as Jesus just told us – if, it is done with the proper intention and motivation. It is still not right to go out and deliberately do something sinful with the thought in the back of your mind that "all I have to do is to write out a check to the Food Bank and all will be spiritually well." No! This is not how it works. But if one does have sin – and there is no way to get to confession – and there happens to be a food kitchen in my neighborhood – and I do drop off some dollars there because my heart is moved by God to do so – not for my glory, but for God's – then my sin will be wiped away.
Presumption is always a sin; but, temporary stop gaps and pardons are always available for the truly contrite and repentant.
In the gospel passage, Jesus is mainly angry at the Pharisees who live a lifestyle of parading around religiosity and sinful self-importance, while their insides, their hearts are far from religious or important at all. He calls them fools because they ought to have known better. But even they can reconcile their insides and outsides if they would only give legitimate alms – heartfelt, generous aid for the poor!
May we embrace your word this day, Lord, and may it allow our lives to change, so that our insides and outsides match: what our hearts tell us, and what our actions actually are: may they be loving, and caring and charitable as were yours, Lord Jesus!
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