“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of another.”

“Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity, when I give I give myself.” - Walt Whitman

Gospel Text: (MT 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.”

We live in a time when the self is worshiped.

We live in an age when self-idolatry is the greatest competitor for God - unbridled egoism and promotion of one's own person is the greatest thing that keeps people from true worship of God, which ultimately comes down to sacrificing one's own ego, one's will, to the Holy Will of God.

It therefore takes a particular generosity to desire to go unnoticed, to will to be not followed, subscribed to, or commented upon.

The Lord teaches this in the Gospel for today, in which he teaches a radical contempt for what others think, a turning away from seeking other's approval and seeking only the approval of God, to become pleasing to him alone. He says: "do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

What does this mean?

The right and left hand are simply expressions of one's fundamental and primordial actions: eating, walking, talking, etc. We use them in everyday basic acts. To not let the left hand know what the right hand is doing means therefore that our fundamental actions should be leavened with a kind of generosity that seeks to please God even in the way we live, move, and have our being, and therefore does not care about what others think.

Stop. Look. Listen. Observe those around you. Discover the needs of others as the very real demands that love places upon you for this moment. In His goodness, God will probably present you with a very real way of having to forget about your own welfare and to worry about the other. Serve. Pray. Love.

In the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist we find the epitome of selfless love. This is my body. This is my blood. Jesus gives himself entirely over to those who undeservedly receive his blessings and accept his love so that they may in turn love without expecting return. At every holy sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus, with reckless abandon, gives himself over into our hands - he offers his whole being without reserve. The Eucharist is the school of generous love. It is the place where we learn to love without expecting return.