Gospel and Homily Transcript
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door,
and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to others to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
What are Jesus’ 3 tips for holiness? transcript
Those of you who are keen observers of the lectionary will recognize in today’s gospel reading the same gospel that we have on Ash Wednesday. But, we are far from the Lent. We’ve just begun the season of ordinary time and as we continue to lift up from time to time different Saints whom we honor, we recognize this universal call to holiness. All of us are called to become saints. Indeed, that’s the reason why the Lord has placed us on this earth: to become saints. It’s not necessarily that we’ll be remembered in the stained-glass windows but that our names will be written in the book of life. It will allow God to have God’s way in us.
The Saints are those who put up no resistance to God’s will at work in their life. That’s our goal. That’s what we’re striving for and today Jesus lifts up the three traditional disciplines of prayer, fasting, and alms giving that in every time and every place, in every age, are the basic building blocks in growing toward holiness.
We might think of those prayers and those disciplines as three fruits in our lives; fruits of the Holy Spirit that we want to continue to develop.
Prayer: The sweetness of life, as embodied in this orange. When we pray—and we pray deeply—the difficulties and the hardships and the struggles of life give way and we’re able to experience some of the sweetness of life; the delightfulnes of the Lord’s love in us. That’s our goal in prayer, that we might come to know how deeply we are loved. In the bitterness and in the hardships and the struggles of life, we may have the strength to continue to draw closer to the source of all love and all life.
Fasting might be symbolized by this little lemon. Who among us likes to fast? There is a certain sourness to that, but as the old adage goes, “making lemons out of lemonade” we recognize that when we discipline our bodies by what we eat, by what we drink, by what we watch, by how we spend our time, there’s a sweetness that is revealed even in the midst of that very necessary discipline of fasting.
The third is perhaps the most challenging and is to recognize the were not placed on this life simply to be by ourselves. Alms giving is about recognizing the needs of our brothers and sisters and giving of our time, giving of our talents, giving of our treasure.
I was thinking about some of the hardships of life and the difficulties of life and I was sitting in conversation with a woman recently in spiritual direction that has just gone through tremendous suffering in her life. She’s a relatively young woman, but her mother has died. She’s estranged from her father. She’s had horrendous health difficulties; has suffered trauma and abuse in her life; is struggling with post-traumatic stress. I came away from that conversation thinking, “What am I complaining about compared to the difficulties of what she endures?” Or you pick up the newspaper and you read about what people in other parts of the world are dealing with by way of famine, by way of abuse by way of war by way of totalitarian regimes.
The traditional call of the Christian community that is picked up in our first reading today from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians says that it’s a fundamental obligation of us as Christians to reach out to those who are less fortunate than us; to give of our time, to give of our talent, to give of our treasure. I think most of us feel pretty generous if we throw a few bucks in the collection basket or we give a dollar to a beggar on the streets. The tradition in the Protestant churches is that you give 10% of your income off the top. Most of us Catholics don’t even come close to that.
It’s not just opening our wallets but it’s also giving of our time. It’s also giving of of our talent; of reaching out to those who are in need around us. These are the traditional building blocks: prayer, fasting, almsgiving. Jesus says, “don’t do these in public.” It’s interesting that Jesus assumes his audience is doing these. He says, ‘do them for the right motivation. Don’t do those to get your name on a plaque. Don’t do those to be recognized by others as a holy person. Do them in secret and your father who sees in secret will repay you.’ It’s not just doing one of those, it’s recognizing that all three of these disciplines: prayer, fasting, almsgiving—Prayer. Fasting. Almsgiving—are the building blocks that day by day, season by season, allow us to grow in holiness. The way that we pray as little kids is important. The way that we give pennies as little ones is important. At every stage of our life, the ways in which these fruits are expressed are going to change, but in every season of our life we need to reach out beyond ourselves. We need to discipline ourselves. We need to renew that connection with the one who made us, the one who sustains us, the one who calls us into life. Amen? Amen.
