Memorial of Saint Romuald (+1027), anchorite and father of Camaldolensis monks.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 6,1-6.16-18

'Be careful not to parade your uprightness in public to attract attention; otherwise you will lose all reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give alms, do not have it trumpeted before you; this is what the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win human admiration. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. 'And when you pray, do not imitate the hypocrites: they love to say their prayers standing up in the synagogues and at the street corners for people to see them. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you pray, go to your private room, shut yourself in, and so pray to your Father who is in that secret place, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you. 'When you are fasting, do not put on a gloomy look as the hypocrites do: they go about looking unsightly to let people know they are fasting. In truth I tell you, they have had their reward. But when you fast, put scent on your head and wash your face, so that no one will know you are fasting except your Father who sees all that is done in secret; and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus continues to speak about justice. In the passages heard over the last few days, he has clarified that the old law must be lived in a new spirit, with a renewed heart. Faith in the Lord cannot be measured simply by external observances or from the number of gestures one acts or from the consensus from other people. Faith is measured by the conversion of the heart. In this Gospel passage, Jesus reminds us of three religious practices that were held in high esteem: giving alms, praying and fasting. What he wants to stress, however, is the invitation to an interior journey that these three practices imply as fundamentally important in the life of believers. But they must be lived indeed in depth. Alms giving, which today is even mocked, it is not merely a complacent gesture towards those who are in need. Giving alms requires the involvement of our heart with the poor. We need to touch them, to call them by name, to be interested in them, in brief, to love them because Christ is present in them. This is the spirituality of almsgiving. This is what God sees in secret, that is in the depths of our hearts. Prayer as well does not consist in external rituals but rather in making room in our hearts for the Word of God. This is the interiority which God sees and which is pleasing to him. The same is true for fasting that is not and exterior practice but an interior, necessary struggle to decrease our egocentrism - this is the goal of fasting - to let space for welcoming the Lord grow within ourselves.