Words to Live By

The start of Lent, and today's gospel when read through is a simple building block to live by during Lent and all the other days in our lives.

Gospel - Mt 6:1-6,16-18

1. “Pay attention, lest you perform your justice before men, in order to be seen by them; otherwise you shall not have a reward with your Father, who is in heaven.
2. Therefore, when you give alms, do not choose to sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the towns, so that they may be honored by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
3. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4. so that your almsgiving may be in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
5. And when you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites, who love standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets to pray, so that they may be seen by men. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward.
6. But you, when you pray, enter into your room, and having shut the door, pray to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.
16. And when you fast, do not choose to become gloomy, like the hypocrites. For they alter their faces, so that their fasting may be apparent to men. Amen I say to you, that they have received their reward.
17. But as for you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face,
18. so that your fasting will not be apparent to men, but to your Father, who is in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will repay you.