Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 21, 2023 - Wednesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Cor 9:6-11 and Matt 6:1-6, 16-18]"Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father." [Matthew]
JUNE 21 ST. ALOYSIUS GONZAGA sj
Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount in today's gospel scripture may at first seem at odds with his earlier words: "Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father." What is it that Jesus wants people to "see" in us? If we give alms, fast and pray all in privacy, what is there to be seen?
It seems to me that one of the most important features of the Sermon on the Mount is the emphasis on motive and integrity - inner behavior as reflected in exterior behavior. Jesus consistently attacked the hypocrisy of the religious leadership of his time, represented primarily in the scribes and Pharisees. Honor and prestige in public were values they pursued while "gaming the system" of Mosaic Law to their own benefit. Humility was not a value for them.
The generosity of which St. Paul speaks in today's first scripture - "...God loves a cheerful giver..." - must come from love of God and neighbor, and not simply in order to attract attention or memorialize ourselves in the public eye. Jesus points to three different forms of "righteous deeds" - prayer, fasting, almsgiving - as opportunities to grow in integrity and sincerity. Motives and intentions are the key indicators. What the world needs to "see" in us must spring from love of God and neighbor. AMEN