“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 be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Greetings to all sisters and brothers.

At the beginning of this Lent, the Lord’s words are: ‘Return to me, with tears, fasting and lamentations. He tells us this through the mouth of the prophet Joel. It speaks of fasting, of weeping, of wailing. And then, if we add at the beginning of this whole season the imposition of the ashes, which refers to death, with the words accompanying this gesture in the past:”Remember mortal you are dust, and in dust, you will become.”

All this leads to the word ‘Lent,’ which means to sacrifice, to renounce, and, therefore, to sadness. But we are made for joy. God does not want us to be sad; He wants us to be happy. Thus, Lent can have no other purpose than to lead us to joy.

Let us not confuse joy with pleasure. Many times, pleasure has not led us to joy but has taken us away from it. Lent is when we are invited to review our life choices to see which ones have not led us to joy or made us happy.

We must return to the Lord on the right path, although this requires effort and sacrifice.Let us examine the Gospel text today. It begins with a recommendation: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.” This is the first indication ofjoy. We desire to be esteemed and valued, and God has placed this impulse in us.

It is a precious stimulus when we do something well; we like to be under the gaze of someone to get approval and applause. We want to make ourselves known. We want to be recognized when we do some good things. We also understand that some hide to be noticed: ‘If I do not participate in that party… will it be more noticeable than if I were there? ‘—What will be seen more: my presence or my absence?

In trying to be visible, there is a danger. Our options condition the threat of how they appear to other people. So, we are slaves to an idol that influences our behavior. This idol promises to achieve success and to make us visible. Still, to obtain this visibility, the idol requires many things, like making compromised lies by dealing with the devil. Therefore, before the eyes of the people, we have to pay a little attention because they are precious people; they tell us if our behavior is reasonable or not necessary. It’s essential to know other’s opinions, but it is another thing when we seek approval.

The first change, the first conversion we are asked in Lent, is if we want to achieve joy. Perhaps we have become sad in life; we have tried pleasure but not joy because we have given much importance to people’s opinions to please them, and we have, instead, forgotten what makes us happy. In this time of Lent, we are invited to review the point of reference of all our options. It’s about knowing who we want to please.

The person in love, when he feels under the gaze of the beloved person, gives the best of himself. If a soccer player knows his fiancé is in the stands, he will play to the fullest. If we want to please the eyes of people, we will play to the maximum, but if we want to please God’s gaze and know that He is accompanying our life, we will give the best. Having the gaze of God as a point of reference for one’s life is the first message of this text.

Jesus goes on to say that if we do not live under the Lord’s gaze and do not give up pleasing other people’s judgments, we will lose the reward of our Father in heaven. The text speaks of the given stipend, ‘mistós’ in Greek. What does it mean? The idea of ​​the reward was one of the pillars of Pharisaic religiosity.

The rabbis taught that devout people who observed the Lord’s precepts accumulated goods before God and were rewarded with blessings. These blessings, of course, were during this lifetime. Therefore, success, good health, and a family that lived in peace were the promised blessings to those who lived under the Lord’s gaze.

This form of reward is not the one that Jesus speaks of. We cannot live thinking selfishly that I am accumulating in the bank of paradise to recover it later, at the end of our lives. This is not the reward of the Lord speaking to those who live, not guided by the people’s gaze, but from the gaze of God.

What is the reward? The Father’s gaze always makes us look more like Him. If our eyes are fixed on the Lord, we will be better people, splendid people, luminous as the Father in heaven. And from us will emerge that light that is the love of the Lord. The prize is the joy of becoming more and more like the Father in heaven. There is no better prize than to resemble the Lord because if we follow his gaze, our choices will always reflect love.

After this first recommendation, Jesus presented a new way of living the three religious practices that characterized Jewish piety: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting. These practiceswere practiced under the direction of the spiritual guides of Jesus’s time. Jesus mentions them but indicates a new way of living them and the dangers that follow those who follow these practices.

The first is almsgiving: “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.” This is the gaze that hypocritical people are looking for, not the gaze of God—but looking for people’s recognition. Those who want to please others seek visibility in society and the world. “I assure you—says Jesus—that they have already received their pay.”

Alms: in Hebrew, there is no term to say ‘alms.’ It is called: ‘sedaká,’ which means ‘justice’ when you do your ‘justice.’ Not only does the term not exist in Hebrew, but not even the concept until we reach the last books of the Old Testament: Tobias, Sirach. In the New Testament, alms appear rarely. Why? Giving alms always means dropping some coins from above. It is not the goal that Jesus seeks for his disciples. His disciples must create a new world in which there is no need for alms because justice exists. Not the justice of the people who say, ‘to each their own.’ This is not the righteousness of God, but that of having the Lord as the owner of everything, and we as administrators, so we cannot own, we cannot accumulate the goods that are not ours but belong to God.

These goods have a destiny defined by God’s justice, who says that the goods are for the needy and the poor. In the proposal of the new world made by Jesus, almsgiving is temporary,although it is good when the dream of God has not yet been realized, which is that of his justice: a world where there is no longer poor, in need of alms. Charity, then, is provisional.

The Fathers of the Church understood this very well. St. Ambrose said to the rich:‘Remember that when you give something to the poor, you do nothing but restore what is due to them because the goods of this world that the poor need are from God. They are now in your hands, but you must give it to the poor.’ But at this time, almsgiving is necessary. We are not yet in the making of the kingdom of God.

How to give alms? What to avoid? To be seen. Do not blow the trumpet in front of you,as the hypocrites do in the synagogue. Jesus mentions a behavior that he has attended many times. In all the villages of Israel, there were those responsible for collecting and distributingaid for the poor, orphans, widows, and pilgrims.

This charitable institution had undeniable merits but was also an occasion for exhibitionism. In fact, during the liturgical celebration of the Sabbath, it was customary that when one made a great offering, the person who presided over the commemoration would call on the person and invite him to go before everyone else to explain what he had done. Then, he would be asked to sit on the honorary post. Jesus witnessed this show many times,and although he was not angry, he felt much pain because these good people had made a charitable gesture but had lost the reward. They exchanged it to indulge in the admiration of the people. They did not have the reward to resemble the Father in heaven.

This is why Jesus immediately adds: “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.” He will not reward you or give you the stipend but restore you: ‘apodidomi’—meaning restitution God gives you. When you give alms, you deprive yourself of something that, for you, was superfluous and, therefore, did not belong to you. If you keep it with you, you do not resemble the Father in heaven, who is love and only love, and he wants anyone who resembles Him to share, for love, with the poor that God has placed in his hands.

When you distribute the goods that correspond to the poor, you make a gesture that mimics the heavenly Father, who freely donates all his gifts to all. This is the reward: to resemble the Father in heaven. It restores you to the face of ‘son’ who had been disfigured by the fact that you had accumulated for yourself, for your selfishness, the goods that belonged to the poor. “Do not let your left hand know what your right is doing.”

If we want to resemble the Father of Heaven, we must be careful to do alms so that the recipient does not know where the gift comes from and the poor do not feel humiliated. It is ideal to do good, give alms, hoping nobody knows we made it. In this way, we will experience the joy of God, who does good without being seen, so much so that some think He does not exist. When we behave this way, the Father of Heaven restores his likeness to us.

The second pillar of Jewish religiosity was prayer. “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.” The reward is nothing other than the applause of those who admire this spirituality. In the past, we heard that it was necessary to pray, that we should pray. But Jesus never spoke of an obligation to pray. You cannot force a person to dialogue with the loved one. Either it comes spontaneously, or it means that it is not love. And therefore, by this insistence on the duty of prayer, people have stagnated, and prayer has entered into crisis.

Today, many wonder: Why pray? And how should I pray? Why should I present my needs to God when He already knows them? Immediately afterward, Jesus says, “Your father already knows what you need even before you ask for it.” Then, why ask for his intervention if God already wants the good of people? If God sees that I have a need, He will certainly give me what I need.

Then, is our prayer to force God to modify his projects? In such a case, it is not that I want Him to perform miracles … but if we ask for it with insistence, then he will grant what we want. It is a lousy prayer to change God’s mind as if He were not disposed to do the maximum good for His children.

Also, why does He grant miracles to some and not to others? These are why prayer is in crisis when it is not understood. Then, how should we pray? Jesus says we should not multiply words like the pagans do. Jesus then tells us how to pray. In Jesus’ time, there were two kinds of prayer: a public one, done twice a day, and a private one.

Wherever the person might be, he posed when, at 9 in the morning, sacrifice was offered in the temple. The same thing happened at 3 p.m. The danger of this prayer was to ruin it and render it ineffective by hypocrisy, that is, to be seen. Today, this danger of being seen praying is much less. We could do a little hide-and-seek.

Regarding community prayer, we must review our way of praying in the communitybecause community prayer must lead us out of self-relegation. In Lent, it is necessary toconvert concerning this community prayer because it is often focused on a personal issue; also, when we are with the community, We always think about our problems and interests. And if the community meeting does not transform us, does not bring us into harmony, in harmony with the brothers and sisters of the community… if one does not become sensitive to the other, then our prayer becomes a confrontation of our gaze with the gaze of God.

Prayer must make us contemplate God’s gaze and see where God’s gaze is directed. It certainly addresses the poor. Therefore, prayer must open the mind and the heart to the needs of the poor at our side. Otherwise, it is ostentation, not so much in front of others, but in front of ourselves because it reassures us: We have participated in the community liturgy and have fulfilled an obligation.

It is useless if prayer does not open our hearts to love our brothers and sisters. It’s fictional; it only makes us feel good. Remember the Pharisee: “I thank you, Lord, that I am not like this man….“ He felt calm, and when he looked at the publican, it was only to despise him. If community prayer does not change our hearts and does not open it to the needs of the brothers and sisters in this time of Lent, then community prayer is not true.

Then, the second form of prayer is made in the dark, with closed doors. Appropriately,the term that Jesus uses is not the room but the ‘pantry,’ the ‘tameion.’ It was the windowless, secluded, most private place in the house. The place where nobody could disturb, where no rumor comes in, no voice, no light. This place is the best place to put you in the ideal condition of receiving the only light that comes from God and a single voice: that of God. We know that Jesus had this type of prayer.

The Gospels mention that Jesus sought a deserted, lonely place on the mountain. It is important to choose this hidden place but remember that it can also be found in a busy city.Isolate yourself from all the rumors and voices and enter into direct dialogue with God. This prayer transforms you.

Earlier, I mentioned that community prayer transforms us because it makes us see ourbrothers and sisters as God sees them. Personal prayer also transforms me because when I engage in an authentic dialogue with a person, I am not just talking to someone but alsolistening to and receiving the message that is communicated to me.

And Jesus says: “When you go to pray, enter your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will pay you.” Let us try to understand this personal prayer: I enter prayer with my problems, my decisions, my thoughts, what distresses me, and my grudges, with the desire to obtain a sure justice, and I present my situation to the Lord. And then I hear what He tells me. And do not tell me you do not hear His voice. We feel very well because we know how He thinks.

And if we know how to be silent, if we know how to open the mind and the heart, his thought enters into us and does no miracles… those miracles that we want Him to do. But it does a great miracle: it makes us see things as He sees them. It makes us seek the choices of life that He proposes to us. This happens in silence, in the reception, hearing his word, and receiving his light. And now we have the reward… ‘Reward’ is a bad translation because here,the use of the verb ‘apodosei soi’—to restore. God will restore His image on you.

If we have entered into prayer and still resent our brother because he has done us wrong, our face is not that of a child of God. But when the Lord changes our hearts in prayer, we leave with a transformed face. We are restored to our resemblance to the Father of heaven.

The third pillar of Jewish religiosity, which Jesus presents at the beginning of this Lent,is fasting. “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites … anoint your head and wash your face so that you may not appear to be fasting.”

Fasting exists in all religions. In Jesus’ time, it was interpreted as a way to convince God to be good with our situation and to make him understand that we were suffering and that He had to help us. Sacrifices were made, such as sleeping on the floor, covering ourselves with ashes, and dressing raggedly… and this was thought to be highly commendable.

The Jews practiced fasting, so much so that in the Roman Empire, the expression “to fast as a Jew” was used. The pious fasted twice a week. Since the people of Israel believed this, we were amazed at how Jesus understood fasting. He gave it little importance.

Jesus speaks of fasting only on two occasions. One is to defend his disciples who do not practice fasting, and the second time is the text of the gospel of today in which he says: if you want to fast, let me tell you how to do it. Paul, in his letters, does not mention fasting. Why has it received so much importance? It was the monks of the first centuries, so much so that fast was joined to a phrase that Jesus spoke when the disciples asked him: Why were we not able to get this demon out? And Jesus answers them: “These demons are cast out only by prayer.” What did they do? They added: ‘also with fasting.’ With prayer and fasting. But Jesus did not mention fasting.

This addition was made when monasticism flourished in the desert of Judah and Egypt. The disciple’s fast has an entirely different meaning. It is not an expression of mourning and pain. It is an expression of joy. Jesus says, “Anoint your head and wash your face because your fast is for a feast day.” The Christian fasting anoints the head because it is a sign of life.

What is the meaning of the fast proposed by Jesus? It is not that God rejoices if one suffers from stomachaches because he has not taken any food that day. God does not want pain; He wants his sons and daughters to be happy and have no pain.

Fasting will not exist in the kingdom of God. Jesus says: It is impossible to fast when the bridegroom is with them. When the kingdom of God comes, there will be no more fasting; when there are no more poor, there will be no need for fasting. Let us understand well what the only fasting that pleases God is. It is the one that comes from love, one in which one is willing to give up food so that another is not hungry. It is not that you please God for the pain you feel.

We do not offer our pain to God; we offer Him the joy of a brother who, finally, has something to eat. Let us listen together to a text from the prophet Isaiah, which speaks of the fast that pleases God: “See the fast that pleases me: breaking the fetters of injustice and unfastening the thongs of the yoke, setting the oppressed free, and breaking every yoke. Fast by sharing your food with the hungry, bring to your house the homeless, clothe the one you see naked and do not turn away from your kin” (Is 58:6-7).

The conclusion of this text that we have just heard is very beautiful. Other translations say: “Without forgetting your relatives”. This is a bad translation. The original Hebrew text reads: “Not to overlook the one who is your flesh.” He who in need is your brother, your very flesh. Do not overlook it because this is the fast that pleases God: you can give your brotherwhat he needs, the brother or sister who is your very flesh.

True fasting is always an act of love for the brother or sister. The food saved should not be put back into the pantry and kept for the day after. It must be distributed immediately to the hungry, which will be a pleasing fast to God.

We have another beautiful text that we will listen to together. It is from the famous bookThe Shepherd of Hermas, which was written in the second century and reflects the spirituality of the first Christian generations. Our brothers understood fasting, which pleases the Lord, very well. This text explains the link between fasting and charity.

We listen to it now: “This is how you should practice fasting: during the day of fasting,you will take only bread and water, then calculate how much you would have spent on your food that day, and you will offer this money to a widow, an orphan or a poor person so you will deprive yourself of something so that your sacrifice serve someone to satiate his hunger. He will pray for you to the Lord. If you fast in this way, your sacrifice will please God.”

This fast always obtains its reward because it separates the heart from this world’s goods,makes us forget our interests, creates love and sharing, and places true fasting within the kingdom of God, which only the Father in heaven sees. You receive the gift: God ‘restores’ the identity of His child to you because your heart has been opened to the love of yourbrother and sister.