¹ The Gospel reading, dearest brothers, which has just been proclaimed to us seems, according to the letter, difficult to understand. Therefore, with God’s help, let us seek how we may arrive at its spiritual meaning. For it says: “Be careful not to perform your righteousness before others to be seen by them”, and again: “When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”, while elsewhere it says: “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works”. Pay close attention, brothers, and seek to understand the meaning of divine Scripture with humility and wisdom. The Lord cannot contradict Himself in the Gospel reading. Since He has commanded both that almsgiving should be done in secret and that it should be done publicly, we must seek a sober understanding so that His commands do not seem to oppose one another. For the one who gives alms in order to be praised by others—even if he does so in secret—still makes it public, because he seeks human praise. But the one who gives alms solely out of love for God, so that others may be inspired to good works and that the Lord, not himself, may be glorified, even if he gives publicly, does so in secret. This is because, in his almsgiving, he does not desire what is seen but what is unseen, and he seeks not the praise of men but the reward from God.

² This also applies to fasting. For when the Lord Himself says: “Anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting”, should we then act against Christ’s command when we proclaim a public fast and fast together before the entire people? It must be understood in the same way: that no one should fast for human praise but for the forgiveness of sins and the mercy of God. Therefore, each person should examine his conscience, and if he gives alms solely for God’s sake, he may do so openly and without fear, so that those who see him may follow his example.

³ Indeed, what the Lord says—“Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”—is understood to apply to what we have already discussed. For the right hand signifies love of God, while the left hand represents attachment to or desire for the world. If you give alms for human praise, it is entirely the work of the left hand, and the right hand has done nothing at all. But if you give alms for the remission of sins and out of love for eternal life, then the right hand alone is at work.

⁴ What then does it mean—“Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”—except that the love of God should not be corrupted or destroyed by worldly vanity or greed? For if someone believes this should be taken literally, what would he do if his right hand were in pain? Should he then not give alms with his left hand? Or if he wished to ransom a captive, how could he open his money chest or untie his purse without using his left hand together with his right? And if he were to receive a traveler and, following the Lord’s command, wash the feet of the saints, I do not see how he could accomplish this without his left hand being aware of it.

⁵ This also pertains to what the Lord said: “Do not pray at the street corners, but go into your room, shut the door, and pray to your Father in secret”. You yourselves can clearly see that this cannot always be fulfilled literally. For not only do we pray in our own rooms, but we also gather in the church and kneel together with the whole congregation. Are we then acting against Christ’s command by doing this, since He said that we should pray in our rooms with the door shut? Certainly not. This teaching aligns with the previous one. Consider carefully how it should be understood. When you pray to God and ask for something visible, you pray publicly with an open door, because you are requesting something that can be seen. But if you pray for the forgiveness of sins and for eternal life, then even if you pray in public, you are praying with the door shut, because you are asking for something unseen. “For the things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal”. If you seek temporary things, as I have already said, you pray publicly with an open door; but if you seek eternal things, your prayer is in secret, because you desire not what is seen, but what is unseen. Whoever sincerely seeks the unseen will, by God’s reward, also receive the things that are seen, for He does not lie who says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”.

⁶ So how do we say, brothers, that we should not pray to the Lord for temporal things, that is, for bodily health, for peace among peoples, or for an abundance of crops? We should indeed ask God for these things—but as secondary or even tertiary concerns—so that in all our prayers, the love of the soul and the desire for eternal life may take first place. Let us pray for the body, but incomparably more should we pray for the soul.

⁷ Therefore, dearest brothers, whenever this reading from the Gospel is proclaimed to you, you must understand it in the order we have just suggested. Whether in almsgiving, in fasting, in prayer, whether with the right hand or the left, we must strive to observe this rule: that whatever we do, we do not for the vanity or greed of the world, but out of love for eternal blessedness. May He grant this, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.