GOSPEL POWER l JUNE 15, 2022 

Wednesday of 11th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel: Mt 6:1-6, 16-18 

Jesus said to his disciples, 1 “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 5 “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. …16“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who o is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” 

 In kinship-based societies, like Israel at the time of Jesus, it was important to make a good impression on others, for that was the cultural basis for being honored and feeling one’s self-worth. But such concern about one’s external image and the opinion it would generate in others was like an enslaving drive that controlled people’s motives for acting. Even religion was exploited for one’s advantage. This background explains Jesus’ insistence to perform secretly the pious acts of almsgiving, prayer and fasting. For in making a show of these religious acts, one simply trades their eternal value for cheap human attention that can offer only a shaky and shifting foundation to one’s self-worth. But by entering the inner room of one’s heart, one encounters the Father, who ought to be the sole motive for performing pious acts and who alone can offer a person the solid and eternal foundation on which to build one’s identity and self-worth.

Lord Jesus, help us to curb our prideful desire to parade our good works before others, on the pretext of giving them good examples. Amen.