This week I am going to reflect on the last of the three traditional Lenten practices; almsgiving.  I should mention at first, however, that these three Lenten practices are mentioned throughout the Sacred Scriptures.  In the Book of Tobit, the three are mentioned together; “Prayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better than wealth with wickedness. It is better to give alms than to store up gold, for almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin. Those who give alms will enjoy a full life” (Tobit 12:8-9).  It is clear from this passage, that the emphasis is on almsgiving.
    So what exactly do we mean by almsgiving?  The Catholic Encyclopedia describes almsgiving as any material favor done to assist the needy, which is motivated by charity.  I think that it is important to focus on both parts of that definition.
    Many of us remember “Operation Rice Bowl” from our childhood.  It is a Lenten program of the USCCB which encourages children in Catholic Schools and Religious Education programs to collect their pennies, nickel, dimes and quarters, and put them in a “rice bowl,” which is collected at the end of Lent and the money is sent to assist the hungry in the missions.  The idea is that the children will give up something -- say soda -- for Lent, and then donate the cost of each soda they have given up to the rice bowl.
   Many adults do the same type of thing:  giving up their morning coffee (I still don’t see how one can function after doing that), and putting the cost of that coffee aside to give to a charity.  This is fantastic, and clearly a means of combining the practice of fasting/abstaining with the practice of almsgiving. It highlights that almsgiving is not simply about writing a check to some charitable group.  Rather almsgiving is a connecting with those in need. It isn’t just about the money, but as an act of charity, it is about doing something, concretely, to help another person, a beloved, achieve their eternal destiny.
    Jesus makes it pretty clear that almsgiving is not just something that a true disciple can do.  Rather Jesus presents almsgiving as a necessary part of the Christian Life. The previous quoted passage from Tobit puts a priority on almsgiving.  “Why is almsgiving better than prayer and fasting? Because it is prayer, and it involves fasting,” he explained. “Almsgiving is a form of prayer because it is ‘giving to God’ — and not mere philanthropy. It is a form of fasting because it demands sacrificial giving — not just giving something, but giving up something, giving till it hurts,” says Mike Aquilina, the vice president of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, and author of numerous books on Christian life.
    The way I see it, these three traditional Lenten practices are means for living the two greatest Commandments.  Prayer is a means of loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Fasting and abstinence is a sacrifice offered for our love of God, which also makes us more mindful of those in need.  Almsgiving is then loving our neighbor as ourselves.