Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18
Chapter 6
On the Practice of Good Works
Be careful not to showcase your good deeds in front of others. If you do, you won’t receive any recompense from your Father in heaven.Regarding Alms
When you give to the poor, do not make it public, like those who want to be seen in the synagogues and streets to garner praise from others. I assure you, they have already received their reward.
If you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
so that your gift remains truly secret. Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Regarding Prayer
When you pray, don’t be like those who seek attention. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have their reward.
When you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Regarding Fasting
When you fast, do not look miserable like the hypocrites do. They make a sad face so others can see they are fasting. I tell you this: they have already received their reward in full.
When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful,
because you are not fasting to impress people but for your Father who sees what is done in secret. And your Father, who sees what is done in private, will reward you.
Commentaries
On the Practice of Good Works.
Like most religions worldwide, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting are the three main practices of the Jewish faith. However, when these practices become formalized, they can lose their original meaning. We need to be careful to keep them as ways to connect with God and our fellow believers, not as empty routines.
The Lord’s Prayer (9-15). All religions have their own special prayer that defines their identity and stays engraved in their followers’ collective memory. For Christians, it is the Lord’s Prayer. Matthew’s version is more detailed than Luke’s, perhaps because it was already being prayed in the Christian communities to which he refers.
With this prayer, we ask, give thanks, and renew ourselves. It includes an invocation: “Our Father who art in heaven!” and seven petitions—three honoring God (his name, his kingdom, his will) and four on our behalf (our bread, our offenses, our temptations, the evils that beset us). The main novelty of the Sunday prayer lies in the first word with which it begins: “Father,” from which everything else naturally arises and gains true meaning. The first three petitions—your name, your kingdom, your will—are essentially one: the passionate desire for his fatherhood-motherhood to be truly present in the world. The remaining four petitions show us that a renewed relationship with God, our Father, is only possible through a renewed relationship among us, his children.