Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
(II Kings
2:1.6-14; Matthew 6:1-6.16-18)
Critics of
Christianity fault the faith for promoting egotism. They see Christian kindness as no more than a
ploy to achieve personal salvation. They
might notice Jesus in today’s gospel making a similar criticism.
Jesus calls
those who perform charitable deeds so that others may notice “hypocrites.” He
means that their public actions are not representative of their inner motivation. They exhibit concern for others not out of
love but out of pride. They want to be
known as good but really do not care about the people they help.
When we
help others in order to achieve eternal life, are we being hypercritical? It is not likely the case. First, such actions presume faith in Christ
and his teaching about who will inherit eternal life. We do what we do not for a tangible reward
but out of love for Jesus. Secondly, we know
that God cannot be deceived because He knows our hearts. We would only be deceiving ourselves if we
think that we can deceive God.
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