Anoint your head and wash your face
18 JUNE (Mt 6,1-6.16-18)
Jesus asks his disciples to live their every relationship with a new principle: everything realized, accomplished, performed and done by them must be lived in the greatest hiding, in the big silence, the greatest discretion, so that no one sees, but only our Father who is in heaven, that is also the one who gives the true and just reward in time and for the blessed eternity in heaven. The work is done for the Lord, to the Lord, the just reward is received from the Lord.
In order to be able to receive the salary from the Lord, it is necessary that the work is done to the Lord. When is a work done to the Lord and when on the contrary it is done for ourselves or for others? When is it done for the glory of God and when for ours? When does it manifest all the divine qualities and when on the contrary it reveals the inadequacy of our hearts and the foolishness of our minds? The work is done for the Lord when the right and left hand do not even realize it. When there is that utmost discreetness, so that the path of truth is in no way troubled. When man disappears and only the Lord remains before our eyes.
The work is done for the Lord, when we fill it of pure, free love, without any interest, offered to Him with an upright conscience, clean hands, mind free from all selfishness, pride, vanity, envy, jealousy, rivalry and spirit of contention; when we give to God the best of the best, the excellent of the excellent, regardless of anything. Certainly we do not give to the Lord, when we give him old things because we need the new ones. When we deprive ourselves of what is out of fashion because it is urgent to update the wardrobe. By doing we do not serve the Lord. We make a little room in our home.
The Holy Scripture teaches us that Abel offered God the healthiest and most beautiful lambs in his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel’s offering. On the contrary, Cain offered him the discard of his crops. God did not even look at his offer. You offers Him what is pure, holy, spotless and beautiful. The best thing ever. If we offer the reject, the diseased part, what we do not need, He certainly might never accept our offer. The Lord asked Abraham the offer of his only begotten son, of his only son. Abraham listened to the Lord and for this listening he promised him the obedience of the whole earth. Jesus Christ offered himself to the Father and it was the redemption and justification of humanity.
“(But) take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.
We talked about offering to God because in the New Covenant Christ and man became one. One rule applies to every offer: to the Lord, to Jesus Christ and to man. If we make two, three rules, then we are out of the truth of the offer. It is a human and no longer a divine offer. It is in accordance with our heart and not according to the Father’s heart. Even the smallest offering to man must be thought of as made to the Lord, to Jesus Christ. It must be holy, pure, free and secret.
Virgin Mary, Mother of the Redemption, Angels and Saints make us a pure offer for Christ.