Year: 2024

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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

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Gospel: Mt. 5:43-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
But I say to you, love your enemies
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father,
for he makes his sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you, what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only,
what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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If you have ever played a video game, then you know that there is always a series of levels. 

The first level is the easiest, and the final level is the most difficult.

Sometimes it takes multiple tries before you succeed in beating that final level… but if you do, then you’ve mastered the game.

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If Christianity were likened to a video game, then today’s Gospel would be the final level: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 

If you can freely do this, then you’ve mastered Christianity. 

Have I mastered Christianity?

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Most of us likely have not. There are some mountains too tall for us to climb, humanly speaking. Forgiving those who’ve hurt us can be one of them.

But anything is possible when our heart is absorbed in Christ. Suddenly, he does the loving and forgiving through us.

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This is how the game is mastered, so to speak, by walking the path of surrender until, “it is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me” (Galatians 2:20).

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Image credits: (1) Kashmir Observer (2) Sermons by Chris Goring (3) Gentle Christian Parenting

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Gospel: Matthew 5: 38-42

Jesus said to his disciples:
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil.
When someone strikes you on your right cheek,
turn the other one to him as well.
If anyone wants to go to law with you over your tunic,
hand him your cloak as well.
Should anyone press you into service for one mile,
go with him for two miles.
Give to the one who asks of you,
and do not turn your back on one who wants to borrow.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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This is, perhaps, the oldest law in the world: An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Before it was written in stone, it seems it was written into our fallen human nature. 

When someone strikes you, strike them back. When someone speaks ill of you, speak ill of them. If someone is angry with you, be angry with them. However you must, get even.

It’s a cyclical flow of revenge; a guarantee of destroying relationships – and by extension, the world itself. As Ghandi once said, “If we all lived by that rule – an eye for an eye – then we’d all be blind.”

And yet… how many of us are to some extent blind? Guilty of following that ancient law of revenge.

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In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers a new teaching.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye,’ but I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. When someone strikes you on your right cheek, turn the other one to him as well.”

Think of someone who’s struck you on your right cheek, as it were. Now imagine turning the left.

Doing so can leave us stunned, feeling tense within, as if such a standard is not only difficult, but also ludicrous. Impossible.

Why would Jesus insist on such a standard?

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An easy way out is to say, “Well, he’s God. Forgiveness comes easy for him.” 

But what about us?

“Offering the other cheek” is a type of olive branch; a path to peace. It means preferring reconciliation to revenge.

Turning the other cheek also prevents someone else’s sin from becoming ours. If someone insults you in anger and you return the favor, then two people are now angry. But if you brush it off – or let it go – then their anger will not become yours.

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This is not an easy Gospel passage to digest. Nor is it meant to be. Perhaps the only way to live it is to reach that point in our journeys where we can say with Saint Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ living in me.”

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Image credits: (1) Threadless (2) Society for the Blind (3) Genesis Bible Fellowship Church