Just as we often pay too much attention to the outward appearance of others, rather than taking the time to attend to their inward character; so too, there exists a temptation, often used by the enemy of our human nature in the spiritual life, to attend more to outward appearances and less to the heart. Our Lord’s remedy? In helping others with their material needs (giving alms), “do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Mt 6:3) Christ wants our eyes and attention to be like His: fixed on the person in front of us, not on possible spectators around us. Likewise in prayer, rather than looking to see whether a crowd has noticed that we are praying, far better for personal prayer to be done where we can have a one-on-one conversation with our Father who looks upon us with personal, particular care. And when we give up something (let us not be too swift to share with others ‘what I am giving up for Lent’), let us not try to show the strain of our sacrifice. That would be to turn our attention from the One for whose sake we have made this sacrifice. Instead, let us keep our attention fixed on the Lord. (And so let us be swift to share with others about Jesus for whom we make any sacrifice!)
Let us return with our whole heart, all our attention, all our desire for recognition, all our longing for true love, all our capacity to sacrifice and serve: let us return our whole heart to the Lord, who is gracious, who is merciful, who sees us when no one else does, who is our Father, and who alone can give the reward He made our hearts to receive.