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Gospel: 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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By the end of 2012, Time magazine considered the word, selfie, to be one of the “top 10 buzzwords of the year.” By 2013, some estimates claimed that selfies accounted for 30% of all pictures taken.
Today that number is probably even higher.
Although most, if not all of us, have taken a selfie, we know that there’s more to a picture – or a person – than meets the eye.
Image isn’t everything.
In fact, to God, image means little.
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“Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them,” Jesus says in today’s Gospel. “Otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”
There are three things, in particular, that God is interested in: charity, prayer, and fasting. While this Gospel passage is often read during Lent, these spiritual practices are always timely.
But they only work to our benefit when our motivation is love.
If, for example, we give to the poor out of a sense of superiority or obligation, then the poor will thank us. But God less so, because he looks beyond the wallet into the heart.
If we wear our religion on our sleeve – if we pray in public, post pictures of our good works online, or tell the world that we’ve done a good deed – then the human praise we receive is our reward.
But if we refrain from telling the right hand what the left is doing, so to speak, then, “your Father who sees in secret will repay you.”
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While good works are always good – charity should be practiced regardless of a person’s motivation – our growth in holiness only comes when the focus is not on me.
But on Him.
What might we do to honor the Lord today?
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Image credits: (1) Selfie, Hand Luggage Only (2) Selfie, cnbctv18 (3) logancc.org