Arulvakku

12.10.2021 — Alms Giving as State of Grace

28th Week in Ord. Time, Tuesday – 12th October 2021 — Gospel:    Lk 11,37-41

Alms Giving as State of Grace

Many of the Pharisees’ rituals were directed towards purifications, toward putting themselves in a state in which they would be in harmony with God’s own desires and so be open to receiving God’s saving grace. More than Pharisees’ external cleansing, Jesus points out that giving alms is a path to interior purification. Jesus told His host first to give alms. The way to make the outside pure is to make the inside pure (11,41). The Pharisees always boated of their giving (Mt 6,1-4; Lk 18,11-12), but they did not give what was within to the Lord. Giving alms is a term used to refer to any sincere act of love towards our neighbours who are in need. These acts turn our hearts toward God; they put our hearts in harmony with God’s own heart, which is a heart burning with infinite love. On the other hand, when we willingly turn away from our neighbor in need, we turn our hearts away from God’s heart, closing ourselves off from receiving his light and grace. Jesus is continually calling his followers to repentance, a way to turning away from the lusts and greed and sloth of our fallen human nature in order to welcome his mercy and transforming grace. If one could pass this basic test of love for others, then indeed all things would be clean to him.