Almsgiving: A Lenten Obligation

By:  Charles Edric T. Co

This is the second in a series of three articles on the Pillars of Lent.

“Christ made Himself poor for you.”  (2 Cor. 8:9)

During the Lenten season, the Church encourages the faithful to engage in the process of interior renewal through prayer, almsgiving and fasting.  Almsgiving, in particular, has been unequivocally and frequently considered necessary not only during Lent but throughout the year by the Fathers of the Church.

Although defined as any material favour done to assist the needy and prompted by charity, almsgiving implies much more than transmission of some temporal commodity to the indigent.  It is this practice of almsgiving which represents a specific way to assist those in need and, at the same time, an exercise in self-denial to free us from attachment to worldly goods.  Apart from this, special collections in favour of the poor especially during Lent also allows for a gesture of ecclesial communion, mirroring what already took place in the early Church.

The Gospel highlights a typical feature of Christian almsgiving:  it must be hidden:  “Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing so that your alms may be done in secret” (Mt. 6:3-4).  Hence, everything must be done for God’s glory, and every gesture of help to our neighbour must not be used as a means to make ourselves the center of attention.

The Scriptures also give us a more profound understanding of almsgiving and teach us that there is more joy in giving than in receiving.  Perhaps it is because of this that the widow cast into the Temple treasury all she had to live on in the famous Widow’s Mite Story.  The positioning of the Gospel story in the days that immediately precede Jesus’ passion and death, foreshadows what Jesus did—made Himself poor to enrich us out of His poverty.

This Lenten season, may we be inspired by the example of Jesus giving His entire self for us to reach out to the poor and the needy through almsgiving.

References: 
www.vatican.va       
www.newadvent.org