Almsgiving,
fasting and prayer
are
the three spiritual practices
Jesus
expects of his people.
But
he expects them to be done in a different way
than
most people do it.
Spiritual
practices are not to be performances.
They
are not to be done in order to be seen by others,
nor
to be evaluated by the self,
nor
to impress God.
They
are not performances.
Almsgiving,
or giving for the relief of the poor,
shows
love for God by imitating his generosity
and
being the conduit through which God provides for the poor.
Fasting
is the denial of self
which
gives up earthly goods
in
order to focus on the one true need.
And
finally, prayer is not a virtuoso act of holiness,
not
the stringing together of beautiful words
or
the feeling of deeply felt feelings
in
order to force God to act
or
to gain approval from others.
Rather
prayer is trusting, loving communication,
asking
God to do his will
and
to sustain us on our journey.
