Isaiah 58:1-9 / Matthew 9:14-15
It goes without saying that charity is the way of life for a Christian. It flows from the the new commandment that Jesus gave to His disciples at the Last Supper : Love one another as I have loved you.
One form of charity that is highlighted during the period of Lent is the act of almsgiving. Hence during this time of Lent we will be given the Charities Week envelopes to facilitate our act of charity to the poor.
Yet it can also be diluted into a form of a financial contribution that is put into the envelope and after which we may have thought that we have done our duty to the poor.
So charity becomes an act of giving some money to the poor, but will it also cross our minds that we have to serve the poor?
We don't need to look far and wide for the poor. They are as near as an arm's length away.
The two readings talk about fasting. Yet the first reading put a very realistic expression of fasting.
It says : Is not this sort of fast that pleases Me - it is the Lord who speaks - to break unjust fetters and undo the thongs of the yoke.
It goes on with letting the oppressed go free and breaking every yoke and sharing bread with the hungry and sheltering the homeless poor and not turning away from your own kin.
Hence if fasting leads on to justice and compassion, then almsgiving should also lead on to serving the poor and those in need.
What is expressed from fasting should also be what is expressed from almsgiving. Both are not just isolated personal acts. Both should have their ends in loving and serving God and others. That is what it means by loving others as Jesus had loved us.