Today's Gospel (Mt 6:1-6.16-18):  Jesus said to his disciples, «Be careful not to make a show of your righteousness before people. If you do so, you do not gain anything from your Father in heaven. When you give something to the poor, do not have it trumpeted before you, as do those who want to be seen in the synagogues and in the streets in order to be praised by the people. I assure you, they have been already paid in full. If you give something to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your gift remains really secret. Your Father who sees what is kept secret, will reward you.

»When you pray, do not be like those who want to be seen. They love to stand and pray in the synagogues or on street corners to be seen by everyone. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is with you in secret; and your Father who sees what is kept secret will reward you. When you fast, do not put on a miserable face as do the hypocrites. They put on a gloomy face, so people can see they are fasting. I tell you this: they have paid in full already. When you fast, wash your face and make yourself look cheerful, because you are not fasting for appearances or for people, but for your Father who sees beyond appearances. And your Father, who sees what is kept secret will reward you».

Today is the first day of Lent: «Now is the day of salvation!» (2Cor 6:2). The application of ashes reminds us of two ideals; the ancient one: «Remember, man, that you are dust, and to dust you will return»; and the one which the Council's renewed liturgy has introduced: «Repent, and believe in the Gospel». Both thoughts are an invitation to look at our own life in a different way -normally, so superficial. Pope Saint Clement I reminds us that «our Lord wants all whom He loves to become converts».

In the Gospel, Jesus is asking us to give to the needy, to fast and to pray far from any hypocrisy: «Do not announce it with trumpets» (Mt 6:2). Hypocrites, strongly condemned by Jesus Christ, are characterized by their heart's falsehood. However, today, Jesus warns us not only against subjective hypocrisy but also against the objective one: that is, to fulfill, even in good faith, all that God's Law and the Scriptures command, but doing it only for those who may be watching, without the corresponding intimate conversion.

It is then, when alms -reduced to "a mere tip"- are no longer a fraternal act but they are limited to a soothing gesture that does not modify the way we look at our brother nor let us experience the charity of paying to him the attention he deserves. Fasting, on the other hand, remains as the formal compliance of an obligation, that does no longer reminds us of the need to restrain our compulsive consumerism nor of the necessity to be cured of our "spiritual bulimia". Finally, praying -reduced to a sterile monologue- is no more the authentic Spiritual overture, the intimate dialogue with the Father, the attentive listening to the Gospel of the Son.

Hypocrites' religion is sad, legalist and moralist, of a big narrow-mindedness of spirit. Alternatively, our Christian Lent is every year's Church's invitation to a more intimate deepening, to a demanding conversion, to a humble penance, so that, while producing the pertinent fruits our Lord expects from us, we may fully live Easter’s joy and spiritual pleasure.