Fr. Frank Majka, SJ – The Bridge

Almsgiving

Almsgiving, the third traditional Lenten discipline, is about helping those in need. And if we expand the notion of almsgiving, it can go beyond monetary help to include giving others some of our time, attention and love as well.

At the heart of the practice of almsgiving lies the question of which people we include or exclude in our lives. We can draw the circle of our generosity so tight that our world consists of only family members. We can draw the circle wider to include our friends, neighbors or co-workers.

But what about those who inhabit circles farther away, people we don’t know and who the Bible calls “the alien and the stranger,” whose needs are real, maybe even desperately so, but who aren’t close to us? Almsgiving makes us think about such people and our responsibility to them, too.

Almsgiving is rooted in taking seriously the question that God put to Cain at the very beginning of the human race: Where is your brother [your sister]? When Cain says that isn’t his concern, God tells him that even though Cain has excluded Abel from his world, Abel is very much included in God’s. Almsgiving reminds us that, as the poet John Dunne wrote, “no man [or woman] is an island,” and the doors of our hearts should be kept unlocked and open to those who need help.

And what about the so-called “undeserving poor”? Do they have a claim on us? Almsgiving reminds us that we, who have not deserved God’s love or the many gifts he has given us, shouldn’t turn a cold shoulder to others who are in need. So, when we give alms, the recipients are encouraged by the fact that others are willing to reach out to them, while those of us who give help are reminded that those in need are, fundamentally, our brothers and sisters.