Preparing for Lent: Almsgiving

Preparing for Lent: Part One
In a few weeks it will be Lent, that period of forty days during which we seek to purify our lives so that we can enter more fully into the mystery of our Lord’s resurrection. Because Lent is approaching so quickly, and because we need to prepare for this great season of penance and reform, I will be dedicating my columns during the next three weeks to preparing for Lent so that when Lent arrives we will be prepared to celebrate it.

During the season of Lent, Christians have traditionally employed three means to change and reform their lives: Almsgiving, Prayer, and Fasting. This week, I consider the first of these three means: Almsgiving, by which I mean sharing our material wealth with those less fortunate than ourselves.

In the Old Testament, the Books of Tobit and Sirach speak extensively of almsgiving—acts of charity, usually in the form of monetary gifts, to those in need. Tobit is an outstanding example of one who performed many acts of charity for his kindred (Tob 1:3, 16). While prayer and fasting are good, the Book of Tobit teaches almsgiving with righteousness is better than both, and that it is better to give alms than to lay up gold (Tob 12:8). Almsgiving saves a person from death and purges away every sin (Tob 12:9). It is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High (Tob 4:11). The Book of Sirach gives a similar assessment of almsgiving. It exhorts readers not to neglect giving alms (Sir 7:10) since almsgiving atones for sin and endures forever (Sir 3:30; 40:17). In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the Pharisees, who are concerned with ritual purity, that if they want to be clean in God’s sight they should give alms and everything will be made clean for them (Luke 11:41). He then exhorts his disciples to sell their possessions and give alms so that they will have unfailing treasure in heaven (Luke 12:33).

While we should practice almsgiving throughout the year, Lent provides us with a moment to atone for our sins by sharing our possessions with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. By sharing our wealth with the poor, we acknowledge that those who are in need—even if we do not know them—are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We acknowledge that the blessings we enjoy are most beneficial when we share them with those less fortunate than ourselves.

But how do we give alms today? While the direct approach is the purest form of almsgiving, most of us are not in a position to give directly to those in need. This is why we depend upon organized charities to do what we cannot do. Charities such as Catholic Relief Series, Catholic Charities, and the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal are some of the organizations that enable us to give alms to those in need.
Lent invites us to consider the many blessings God has bestowed upon us, and it summons us to share our resources with those less fortunate than ourselves.

Prayer and fasting are important, but without almsgiving they can become empty rituals. Just as the Lord emptied himself in order to give himself to us, so we ought to empty ourselves by sharing with those in need.
Father Matera