The WHY versus the WHAT

I know of a doctor, a surgeon actually, who prays before every operation. He gathers the family of the patient around him in the room and offers up a prayer for the success of the operation. Sounds like our kind of guy, right? But here’s the rest of the story. Our doctor friend comes into the patient’s room, gathers the family around, and prays something like this: “Lord Jesus, I ask you to send down your spirit into THESE HANDS, that I might HEAL this man. Thank you for the gifts you have given me that will help me fix this broken man and return him to health.” So now maybe the question that comes to mind is, “Just who is being glorified in that prayer?”

That’s exactly what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel. Almsgiving, prayer, and fasting, the cornerstones of Jewish worship, and all good practices both in Jesus’ time and for us today. And then as now, all too often the inherent goodness and grace of these acts of charity and worship are undermined by the intent behind the one who offers it up. The WHY behind our worship is every bit as important as the WHAT. If it becomes about glorifying ME, how can it be about glorifying God? If it’s advertising, it’s not praise and worship. As in all things, it’s all about the WHY.

Christ calls us to do good for others, to offer charity & sacrifice for those in need. Let’s face it – doing good feels good. But it’s all too easy to become focused on the goodness of our act – on becoming enamored with OUR goodness – rather than the opportunity to share God’s bounty with others.

Likewise in our prayer – it’s natural to want people to think well of us, but it’s too easy to lose our focus on the matter at hand. Individual prayer is about establishing intimacy with God, but once we focus on the public display of our praying, we’re perverting that connectivity. Our prayer becomes a display, a show, rather than an act of worship. Jesus is calling us in today’s Gospel, reminding us that when we kneel before the Blessed Sacrament today, we need to focus on the sacrificial beauty in front of us rather than the watching eyes behind us, for that is where we’ll find His love.

John the Baptist told his disciples, “I must decrease that He might increase.” That same call to humility and surrender is what Jesus presents to us, his disciples today, calling us to be ever focused not on the face we show the world but on the Face of Our Heavenly Father, lest we get sidetracked by our own illusions of glory rather than the awesome Glory of God. With Christ’s help, let us remain ever mindful that it’s not about us, God – it’s all about You.