Pray, Fast, Give Alms

This evening Best Dude and I switched things up and attended a neighboring parish where our friend is the rector. As usual, it was a lovely service, but tonight's meditation was a tool for the Holy Spirit to speak to me.


The gist of the sermon was " Pray. Fast, Give Alms. In Lent, especially, we Christ-followers are called to focus on doing these three tasks.  The Gospel lesson for today compels us to do these things not to " be seen" by others { as did the Pharisees } but to do these things quietly so that the God who is our Creator will reward us. We are not to show off our piety, but to quietly pray and give alms in the name of Our Lord.


What really struck me  in this evening's Gospel is the part where Christ commands us to give alms " in secret" and " so that the left hand will not know what the right hand is doing". To me, almsgiving is in itself an act of prayer....when I give alms, I do so not because I determine that the receiver is 'worthy' of help or because she or he is ' just like me' but because doing so pleases Our Lord.


We need to remember that Christ calls us to BE His hands & feet on Earth. Charity should not be about the giver...there is not need to sound the proverbial trumpet to let others know of our gifts. Christ knows , and that should be enough for His followers


Amen.


Ash Wednesday, 2014