The readings today are about giving to others and not being stingy with what we have, but to share our gifts and resources generously with those who are in need of them. Most of us are concerned that we won’t have enough for ourselves if we give away too much of our money (and our time as well). God reminds us in the scriptures from the first reading today, that isn’t how it works in the spiritual life. It’s funny that the more we give to others, whether it is our time, talent or treasure, the more our life is filled with family and friends. Our lives are filled with love because we loved others first.
However, the point of today’s reading from the book of Corinthians is that, all that we have is a gift from God and it should be shared generously with other people too. God’s gifts were not meant to be hoarded for ourselves. He will see to it that we have everything we need if we just trust Him. Actually, Jesus showed us the same thing when he praised the widow’s mite in another Gospel reading that we had recently. She gave her last two cents to the temple treasury and simply trusted her life to God, that he would provide for her needs. It was a quiet act of charity between her and God, but Jesus noticed her little gift as being greater than all the others.
In today’s Gospel from the book of Matthew, Jesus seems to be more concerned with the motivation behind the giving, rather than the gift that was given. People do sometimes want to appear as an “important” member of society when they give a large gift and we often acknowledge their gift with a plaque or put their name on the side of a building or monument. Often, a donor will give a large sum of money and present the gift publicly in the form of a large pretend check. In the Lord’s eyes though, it would be better to give these gifts without being acknowledged in the public eye.
The same is true with our piety. We should pray for other people in private, without making a big deal about it in front of others. Everyone always tells each other we will “pray for them”, but how often is this actually followed through? It’s better to just remember to pray for them the next time you are praying.
The opposite is also true though. Parents should pray more in front of their children and participate in things at church or in the community too, in order to set a good example for their children. This is the one instance when their piety should be more public because their children are watching them and learning from their example. Other adults should also be involved in activities for the children in the parish for this reason as well, to set a good example for them.
Today, let us make sure the public acts we do are to genuinely serve others and not for other people to notice them. God sees the good acts we do and He is really the only one who counts.
