Prayer, Fasting, Almsgiving, The Holy Trio
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 11, 2022
- 4 min read
Prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the Holy trio. These three practices are essential to the life of a Catholic. They help to keep our interior house in order: to keep the love of God burning bright in our hearts. They are foundational to the spiritual life, as what is inside us can defile us and defile our good works. In the Gospel we are about to read, Jesus calls out the Pharisees for this exact thing: focussing on exterior practices but ignoring their interior. As we allow the words of the Gospel to penetrate us let ask the Lord so show us the state of our hearts.
Jesus Denounces Pharisees and Lawyers
While he was speaking, a Pharisee asked him to dine with him; so he went in and sat at table. The Pharisee was astonished to see that he did not first wash before dinner. 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 extortion and wickedness. You fools! Did not he who made the outside make the inside also? But give for alms those things which are within; and behold, everything is clean for you. Luke 11 : 37-41
Scriptural Analysis
This passage opens with a Pharisee extending an invitation to Jesus to join him for dinner. This is the second invitation he has received. The first invitation we find in chapter seven of Luke’s gospel, “One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat at table.” (7:36) In the first instance Jesus spoke to the Pharisee about forgiveness and love. In this second instance, Jesus again speaks of the law but he adopts a harsher and more severe tone strongly reprimanding the Pharisees and scholars gathered at table.
The Pharisees were amazed that Jesus simply sat at the table with out observing the prescribed ritual washings before the meal. The word used here for the washing is baptizō which indicates a ritual dipping that marks the transition from unclean to clean. This washing was not part of the law of Moses but added through later tradition. The Pharisee’s reaction to Jesus not washing triggers Jesus’s teaching.
His teaching takes the form of a denunciation. He calls them fools which is a term that is often applied to the wicked, “Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise?” (Psalms 94:8) The ritual observance of the Pharisees is concerned with externality, however, they fail to focus on what matters, the interior disposition of their hearts. Jesus reveals their interior which he says is, “full of extortion and wickedness.” Jesus points out to them that they can wash their outside all they want but it is pointless if their heart is full of evil. He then instructs them to give alms as a way of cleansing their inside. Scripture addresses the blessings that come from giving alms, “For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness of life.” (Tobit 12:9)
Daily Application
There is an old idiom that we all know: don’t judge a book by its cover. The point if the idiom is that exterior appearances don’t reveal what is inside. Yet in our world we make so many judgements based upon exterior appearance. That person is good, that person is bad. That person I like, that person I do not like. I will listen to that person but not that other person. The list of judgements we make based on appearance goes on and on. Additionally, our culture is all about exterior appearance. Based upon one’s physical appearance, hair style and color, and clothing we determine their worth, their importance, that their opinion or thoughts on a subject are important.
Jesus’s denouncement of the Pharisees speaks directly to this. That Pharisees cared much for exterior appearance. They were concerned with how one dressed and how they conducted themselves. They were concerned with following every letter of the law, both the law of Moses as well as the oral tradition, and were quick to point out the failings of others. Yet they failed to look inward: to look at the state of their heart.
Jesus has already confirmed that the two most important commandments are to love God with all you are and to love your neighbor as yourself. Furthermore, he made sure to clarify that neighbor includes everybody. These two commandments are intimately united with each other. One can’t love God and their neighbor in the way Jesus commands them to if their heart is full of hatred, anger, bitterness. This is what matters, the interior state of one’s heart. All of the exterior practices: the rituals, the prayers, that is all meaningless if the interior is not right.
Fortunately, the Church gives us three tools to help get our hearts right: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Jesus specifically mentioned almsgiving in this Gospel passage. Prayers and fasting go along with those. These are important practices to make part of our lives to help us keep our heart pure. Prayer is the cornerstone. We need to be in dialogue with our Lord. Fasting helps to enhance prayer. It also helps us master our bodily urges which are often the source of temptation to sin. Finally, almsgiving reminds us that all we have is a gift from God and we are to use that gift to love our neighbor.
Worry less about your exterior and more about your interior. Use the tools the Church has given us: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the Holy trio to clean your interior and grow in the spiritual life. Allow the Lord to transform your heart through those tools so that you too may hear him say, “behold, everything is clean for you.”
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