19 June 2019
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Just last Tuesday, we heard Jesus say in the gospel, “Your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” Yet, in today’s reading, he tells his disciples not to pray, fast or perform righteous deeds in order to be noticed by others. How do we understand this seeming contradiction?
The answer lies in the purity of our intentions when we fast, pray, and perform righteous deeds. Are we doing it simply to look good in front of others or are we doing it from the honest depths of our hearts? Sometimes it’s not so black and white. We might have mixed motivations at times. We like doing good things, but we like being noticed and praised too. God knows what lies in our hearts and invites us to talk to him about it so that our motivations may be purified and that the praise, glory and honor will all be directed towards Him.