Grace Notes 2025-03-12
On Ash Wednesday the Gospel Reading was taken from Matthew’s Gospel the 6th chapter. In the reading Jesus addresses three acts of piety: giving to the needy, prayer, and fasting. The first mentioned is also known as the giving of alms, or simply as charity.
These three activities are especially brought to the fore in the Season of Lent and are often spoken of as spiritual disciplines. It is not that they only belong in the Season of Lent. Rather, these lifelong practices in the life of a believer receive renewed focus. They are basic. To put it in baseball terms, the Season of Lent becomes a kind of Spring Training where the basics are rehearsed with intensity.
With each of these disciplines our Lord warns His followers against their exercise for mere show, to be seen by others. Hence, He commends prayer in the privacy of your room, with the door closed. He speaks of fasting – yes, the practice is assumed – without disfiguring your face and letting everyone know how dedicated you are. And in giving to the needy, this should be done in a way that the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. The purpose in each is meant for devotion to God and for love and service to the neighbor, and not for self-aggrandizement!
Jesus is not averse to speaking of rewards. But He wants us blessed with the highest rewards. The praise of others along with power, influence, and wealth is small potatoes compared to being formed in Christ and having treasures in heaven. When you think about it, it is hard to argue the point. How do you spell ‘eternity’?
Don’t overlook the giving of alms! Jesus actually leads with this in Matthew 6. Money, food, clothing, and shelter come quickly to mind. But don’t overlook the giving of your time, attention, and affection. The right words of love and affirmation also touch the real needs of our neighbor.
Since You Asked…
What is the meaning of the Incarnation? The word incarnation is taken from Latin term incarnatio. It literally means “taking flesh” and in the Christian Faith it refers to God becoming human. In John 1:14 we learn of God the Son becoming flesh with the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Indeed the child born to Mary was a man, but it is the insistence of the Christian Faith that Jesus was also fully God. He is sometimes called the God-Man. Without ceasing to be fully divine, inseparable and equal to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit; God the Son also fully assumed our humanity in the womb of the Virgin Mary. In this way Jesus mediates God to man and then also represents man to God. The mystery of the Incarnation becomes a necessary means by which Jesus’ death and resurrection accomplishes our salvation.