Wednesday, 6/18/14
In Chapter Six of his Gospel St. Matthew recorded three bits
of advice Jesus gave against being showoffs.
He told us that when we give alms we shouldn’t let or left
hand know what the right hand is doing. He said when we pray we are not to make
a display of it. When we fast we should not advertise our abstemious ways.
It is easy to miss the point Jesus was making in telling us
not to show off. It wasn’t just that he did not want us to be hypocrites. No,
in warning us against showing off Jesus had something else in mind.
The finest thing in his life was the love he shared with the
Father. He made a practice of secretly doing good just to please the Father. In
this passage he was saying that our secret love affair with the Father should
be the biggest thing in our lives too.
He said, “Your Father who sees in secret will repay you.” He
will repay you by deepening that love he shares with you.
The title on one piece of sheet music on my mother’s piano
back in the 1930’s was When You’re Away. The lyrics went on about how life
was dreary when the loved one was away.
Following on that, there was the line I think of as applying to me and the
Father:
“Then when your near me, there’s naught that I strive to do, save to endear me more fondly my love to you.”
“Then when your near me, there’s naught that I strive to do, save to endear me more fondly my love to you.”
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