In Secret

In today’s gospel Jesus speaks to us about the proper way of giving alms, praying and fasting. Although there is a lot of focus on these during Lent, these are actions we should incorporate into our daily lives. Prayer is a must each and day. We need to carve out time for our Lord every day. I was talking with a friend last night and she mentioned that ever since she moved away she no longer does Evening Prayer, she doesn’t spend time in Adoration and doesn’t attend Mass every Sunday. She mentioned that she feels like her spiritual life has fallen apart and she feels lost. She has lost her anchor, no wonder she feels lost! We talked about ways that she can get back on track, not trying to incorporate all of these things back into her life at once but setting goals and following through on them. Making the decision to attend Mass every Sunday and not allowing anything to get in the way. Then she can sign up to be a committed Adorer one day a week and when she gets that routine established then adding back in her Evening Prayer or whatever she feels will help her feel that connection with God again.

The reason that Jesus mentions that these are to be done in secret is because he sees the importance of inner disposition and proper motivation. These acts are not meant to be done for public display, admiration or attention. We do them to express our love for God and for one another.  Jesus warns us to not allow our “righteous deeds” to be performed in order that others may see them, otherwise, “you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.”  I know that if someone does something for me not out of sincerity but to be recognized by others, not only do their actions have no meaning but it is even worse than doing them without sincerity of heart. Their motivation is purely selfish and it is a double blow especially if it is a friend or family member. And if we are able to recognize this shallowness in one another imagine what God knows, “who sees all that is secret.” He knows what is in each of our hearts and sees the things that we refuse to believe about ourselves.

God also knows the good in our hearts. He rejoices when our actions are done out of love for Him and him alone. Sometimes we do things out of the goodness of our heart for others and for whatever reason, the other person refuses to see that. Maybe a past hurt, that they refuse to let go of, prevents them from seeing that our actions are truly done out of love. Our heavenly Father knows these things as well and we should hold onto that because what is in our heart is a true reflection of who we are. Continually striving to do what is good and right can sometimes be tiring and difficult especially if it seems to always be an uphill battle. But this is when we need to especially follow Christ’s instructions and “go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.” We need to allow the Holy Spirit to renew us so that we have the strength to live a life of love especially to those who are difficult to love.