Give Alms From Within

  Luke 11: 37-41

Woes to the Pharisees and Lawyers

³⁷ While Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him, so he went in and reclined at table. ³⁸ The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. ³⁹ And the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. ⁴⁰ You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? ⁴¹ But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.

We most often think of almsgiving  as giving of money or goods to help the less fortunate. a note worthy gesture, long honored in the Church, as Pope Leo XIII says,  "Once the demands of necessity and propriety have been met, the rest of your money belongs to the poor."  John Chrysostom says,"The man who has two shirts in his closet, one belongs to him; the other belongs to the man who has no shirt." We can also share our faith, give of our time and expertise,  or our insights and experience. When we look at almsgiving from this perspective, we see that we all have much more to share than we would have suspected or acknowledged. Let look into the treasures with which we have been blessed and share them freely with others.

Bro. Rene.