Episode Transcript
[00:00:12] Speaker A: Welcome to the Blessed Sacrament Homilies podcast, where our mission is to help everyone recognize and experience the presence of God. We hope you are nourished and encouraged by the Word. Thank you for joining us.
[00:00:26] Speaker B: The Lord be with you.
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
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. The Gospel of the Lord.
Back when I was in college, I was a bit of a freak. I know that doesn't shock anybody, but. And I think I did it probably more out of guilt and fear than I did out of goodness.
But I always got to Mass, and I did it pretty much anonymously. I would often go on Saturdays, and I would just sneak off for an hour, not saying necessarily what I was going to do, and I would go.
Well, as my college career moved on, I must have got an idea that I ought to try to evangelize just a little bit.
So I asked a friend of mine if she would like to go to mass with me. And of course she said, no, thank you, but I didn't give up.
And then finally she said, yeah, I'll go. And she wasn't Catholic.
And when we walked out, I asked, well, what are your observations?
And she said, why does everybody look like they're in pain?
And, you know, sometimes that's not the most inaccurate observation of Catholics that's out there, because I think sometimes we think that when we pray or when we are intense about something, we need to look like we're in a bit of agony.
But if we really want to look like we're people of faith, without wearing a big sign saying I'm a believer, a look of joy would be much more accurate.
In fact, we believe that joy is one of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
And I think we would all hope that those gifts remain with us.
Now, I'm sure you're saying to yourself, well, how come he always looks so darn crabby?
It's an accident of birth. I just. I can't. I can't help it.
But Lent is a time where we often dig deep into our practices of faith. We pray a little bit more. We might do a few more devotions. We might come to daily Mass, or do a few more things that we normally don't do throughout the year.
But as we do those things, perhaps we would be better off if we did them with a smile on our face and with a twinkle in our eye.
Not because we want others to see our faith, but because the faith we have causes us to know joy, recognizing that this Christ that we worship and join with offers us what everybody seeks, the promise and hope of eternal life.
