Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
The text is the gospel for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, our opportunity to emulate Christ through prayer, repentance and self-denial.
I sat down to read this scripture a few weeks back and my first reflection was that this message is telling us how to pray. It sets the tone for the season, a fitting how to guide for prayer and reflection.
I think it also points out the appropriate relationship between you and God, which is personal, and not about a relationship to or with anyone else.
Jesus spent forty days exploring and examining his relationship with God. My first reaction was, “easy for him to do since he did not have a wife, two daughters, and a mortgage”.
I do not see that we are being asked to simulate this effort each year, rather we have been given some warnings and tools for our time of reflection.
We are warned to avoid practicing piety before others “in order to be seen by them”; an outward prayer with an ulterior motive. We are warned to avoid faking our fast like the hypocrites; an outward display to cheat real repentance. We are told not to store up “treasures on earth”; outward consumption that will not endure.
We are told to look inward, “shut the door” and pray. That is the secret, our Father.
Let’s get started.
Charles Brickley
All Saints' Episcopal Church
