|
|
|
|
“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be
seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So
whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do
in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others.
Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may
be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And
whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and
pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by
others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you
pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in
secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you
fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so
as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received
their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so
that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret;
and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. There
is a slight tendency in all of us and a strong tendency in some of us to blow
our own horn. We want what we do to be noticed, especially the good we do. On
the other hand, we would like all the bad we do to go totally unnoticed and, if
noticed, totally ignored. In fact, I think, there is a need for our good acts to
be noticed. Human beings that we are, if we did not receive some modicum of
praise for the good we do, we might be sorely tempted to stop doing that good. Oh,
I know: the reward in doing good is in the doing itself. Jesus never needed to
be praised for his good works. In fact, he shied away from any praise. He told
people not to tell anyone of his good works. For Jesus, it was enough simply to
do the good. That is true for all of us most of the time. But, again, there are
times when we would like to have at least a slight pat on the back and no more. No
one likes the braggart. No one wants to be called one either. Thus, we have to
temper our need for praise and, I suspect, temper some of the praise we give.
Too much or too little of anything is bad. Too much praise, given or received,
can cause pride to take over. Too little praise can cause one to wonder about
one’s self worth. It is a fine line we walk when living out our life of faith.
Would
that we did not have the need to be praised, that we could and would do all the
good we do for no other motive than that is what we our faith says we are
supposed to do. Would that doing good would always be reward enough to keep us
doing good for one another. Most of the time it is. It is those “some of the
times that aren’t” that cause us problems. I
pray: Lord, thank you for the gifts and talents to live out my faith by serving
others as you served. Help me to give of myself and be thankful. Amen. |