Tuesday, June 20, 2017

11th Week, Ordinary Time, Wednesday, 21-06-17

2 Cor 9:6-11 / Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Whenever the Church talks about giving, what immediately comes to mind is money.

And generally speaking, whenever any charitable organisation talks about giving, the presupposition is that it is about money.

As we heard in the 1st reading, when St. Paul talked about giving, he was certainly referring to money.

While in most cases money is the means of giving, what is more important is the spirituality of giving.

Because in the gospel, when Jesus talked about prayer, fasting and almsgiving, He is also saying that God the Father knows the intentions of doing it.

So whether be it almsgiving or prayer or fasting, it is a form of spiritual offering to God the Father, and when God sees the purity of the intentions behind it, He will reward the giver accordingly.

Hence, besides almsgiving or money, when it comes to prayer and fasting, what is the attitude behind the giving or the offering?

As St. Paul said in the 1st reading, thin sowing means thin reaping. And God loves a cheerful giver.

God also will reward those who give generously of themselves in prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

And we also need to remember this: There is no limit to the blessings which God can send you - He will make sure that you will always have all you need for yourselves in every possible circumstance, and still have something to spare for all sorts of good works.