Reading
Matthew 6:1-6.16-18
6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Meditation
Prayer, almsgiving, and fasting are the three great duties of the Christian, who is called not only to abstain from evil but also to do good and to be perfect: "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Mt 5:48).
Through prayer we serve God with our souls; through fasting, we serve him with our body and doing works of charity we serve him with our goods. Jesus teaches us how we must practice almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, putting us on guard against the attitude of the scribes and Pharisees of all times, who exploit religiosity to obtain praise and consent.
Prayer works of charity and penance can open us to God and to our neighbor if they do not represent a form of self-justification and a withdrawal in ourselves. Prayer and pious works done with hypocrisy not only get us nothing from God but become an occasion for sin.
Almsgiving, far from being something "extraordinary", such as to make us proudly sound the trumpet, is an act of natural justice towards the poor, even more than a virtue: it consists in giving them those goods they need and of which we have been constituted by God not as exclusive owners but as simple administrators.
Jesus recognizes the great importance of personal prayer, done in secret. He himself is frequently described in the Gospels as he prays in lonely places. The Pharisees, on the contrary, prefer to pray in synagogues and on street corners, "standing upright": an appropriate position for the Christian (see Mk 11:25 where the use of the Greek word estotes indicates the upright posture), but to which one is to be preferred kneeling for its numerous testimonies in the Gospels (Lk 22:41; Acts 7.60; Eph 3.14).
The standing of the Pharisees indicates their self-confidence before God. Jesus' recommendation not to use too many words when we pray must lead us to a prayer that is animated by trust in the Lord - who knows our every need - and with the full involvement of all our faculties: intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. When we turn to God, a single word that springs from the depths of the heart is worth more than all the words in the world, and the most beautiful words are worth nothing if it is not the heart that speaks. However, Jesus does not condemn repetitions in prayer but only the use of "vain" words, pronounced in a mechanical way. He himself prays in Gethsemane repeating the same words (Mt 26:44). The invitation to the simplicity of prayer is not even in contrast with the perseverance and insistence which Jesus invites us elsewhere (Lk 11:1-8). He himself "went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." (Lk 6:12). When we pray, then, we are never alone, in fact, "the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." (Rom 8:26)
The words about fasting testify to a practice that was common in late Judaism and is fully part of the Christian's spiritual life. Fasting is widely attested in the New Testament: Anna "never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying." (Lk 2:37); the disciples lay their hands on Barnabas and Saul after having fasted and prayed (Acts 13: 3). But Jesus warns us not to practice fasting as a mere "physical exercise" with the pretense of demonstrating our justice to men. Fasting of the body is useless and is indeed counterproductive if instead of purifying our soul it makes it swollen with itself. We are then called to fast with joy, showing us happy faces and perfuming our heads. On the other hand, what does true fasting represent if we do not give up a part of ourselves to obtain from God that reward which is himself?
Giving alms, praying, fasting, as Jesus teaches us, far from simply giving "something" (our goods, our affections, our time) means giving ourselves to God, in that "spiritual worship" which the apostle Paul calls us (Rom 12: 1). We who are dust in which God has breathed the breath of his life, are called to return to dust only after having burned with ardor, consuming ourselves for God and for our neighbor; until everything is finished (Jn 19:30).
Prayer
Teach us to give ourselves, o Lord, as a sacrifice pleasing to you; so that we can grow in holiness in your eyes and receive your salvation as a pledge. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
