+ Our gospel passage today actually is a repeat of that of Ash
Wednesday. Perhaps the reason for this is that any day is
a good day to be reminded about the basics: our
basic attitude of doing things for the right reason. The three great
religious activities mentioned in the passage apply as much to today as to the
ancient world in which we see them here. Almsgiving,
prayer and fasting can always
help not only the spiritual growth of the individual who does them, but also
the people for whom they can be done as a sacrificial offering.
But when they are done, they
must be done in an unassuming way, and not like Pharisees and hypocrites who
love to do these things to be seen, so they will win the admiration of the
people, and places of honor at banquets and the best foods and wines.
And so almsgiving (helping the poor with monies and goods) must be done
quietly, even anonymously if possible: we must recall that when we help people, we are helping Christ himself: and he will
reward and repay us beyond anything we can imagine. In our day: today: there
are a great many in our own country who are newly participants in lines at food
banks and other helping organizations in order to get the basic things they
have lost because of the unemployment due to the Coronavirus – that shows signs
of increasing rather than decreasing.
Private
prayer (as opposed to community worship) needs to be done in the
secret places of our hearts, in the inner recesses of our homes, in our prayer
corners or chapels; in this way the flow of communication between God and us
can be free and abundant. And again, the face of the Coronavirus where
ordinary public worship is greatly restricted in size due to health concerns,
learning how to stop, and go inside, into our very souls to meet God, adore,
worship and pray to him – is actually being facilitated now by the
restrictions.
Fasting
(giving up of certain foods and the like) should be done quietly as well: a
gloomy “giver-up-er” gives a bad impression to everyone: if penance does not produce joy, then it is not being done right! – And it is vital in this age of so much
disease, chaos and confusion, that we do not only pray for the successful
outcome of what is distressing us, but also practice purposeful self-denial to
be in solidarity with those who have some much less than they used to, than
what they need for themselves and their families.
No! it doesn’t have to be Lent
for us to practice these Christian activities: they are the key to right living
and good results any day, any season of the year.
Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my
Father will love him, and we will come
to him.
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