Ash Wednesday

Today’s gospel tells us to not be overt in our almsgiving, fasting and praying. How do we not be overt in doing that? Certainly people will notice if we are not eating between meals or not spending as much time on Face Book or on our smart phones. And it is hard not to tell others that we are supporting the charity that our particular parish might be supporting during the Lenten season we want them to know it is a good cause and if we are supporting it they should too. Or won’t our families or friends notice that we are spending extra time in prayer?
It is not so much that we shouldn’t do things that people won’t notice but that we do these things automatically without making a big deal out of it. If we can have things become automatic during the Lenten Season then those same things will become automatic throughout the entire year. Can you imagine what it would be like if during Lent one person took 5 minutes out of the day to pray when they normally wouldn’t and someone they know would then see that and think I can take 5 minutes to pray too, then another and another? What a ripple effect that would be. No one was overt in saying I am praying 5 minutes on my lunch hour so you should too, they are just doing it and if someone notices it isn’t because it was announced this is my 5 minutes prayer time.
We sometimes believe that if we don’t do something big and important it won’t make a difference. That isn’t true it is generally the little things that are done over a period of time that make the greatest difference.