Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 19, 2024 - Wednesday in the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14 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]
How does this saying square with the earlier one in the Sermon on the Mount: "Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.."? [Matt. 5:16] At first sight there seems to be a contradiction. The difference, it seems to me, is found in the motives for doing any good deed as a disciple. It is self-promotion or is it faith-promotion? Today and later on in the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus severely criticizes the Pharisees and scribes of his day for their self-promotion and legalism. [cf. Matt 23]. They could be experts at "loopholes" in the Mosaic Law that benefitted them at the cost of others.
Almsgiving, fasting and prayers were and still are traditional forms of piety. But when they were done in order to gain prestige, their value, for the disciple, is diluted in the sight of God even when others benefit from those actions. Religious devotions and actions that are done simply because they are either prescribed or customary without accomplishing the goals or reasons for them can be meaningless, or, in the case of the scribes and Pharisees, they can be devious!
The Sermon on the Mount goes beyond the exterior action to the interior disposition or motive so that the true disciple is whole and complete. This requires a lifelong process of conversion and self-honesty. Without God's help, we cannot do this. With God's help, we can live our faith with integrity. AMEN