Lent Day 36 - Why is Almsgiving Valuable?

Almsgiving is valuable because we're members of a mystical body-we're implicated in each other. I can never say that your suffering is not mine or that your neediness is not mine. All of us are co-implicated. 

We're responsible for each other and giving alms is a very concrete way to acknowledge that. 

Almsgiving is also tied to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Every Catholic is obligated, everyday, to practice those. Almsgiving offers a very clear and concrete way to fulfill that obligation.  

"We're responsible for each other and giving alms is a very concrete way to acknowledge that."

- Father Robert Barron  

Who says you can't bargain with God - Tomorrow's reading reflection

They say you can't bargain with God.  Maybe not.  But after reading the readings today I can tell you this. When we pray, fast and give alms for the right reasons, God the Father listens a little more closely.  How do I know?  Jesus said so, three times.  "And your Father who sees in secret will repay you."  It sure doesn't hurt to try.

Cardinal Dolan praying a rosary
in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
(photo: Bob Mullen/The Catholic Photographer/
NY Daily News)