In the past, I would usually go online and post photos or quotable quotes from Scripture and devotionals when I do my morning prayer time. But I would get very distracted. I’d end up browsing through social media in between my posts until it was already time to hurry for work. I would feel frustrated for not finishing my prayer time and even more frustrated when no one would like my posts.

Since then, I’ve tried my best to stay offline while having my prayer time and just post afterwards, if at all. Of course, it’s good to share beautiful words in the midst of all the negativity online. But I also remind myself that I should do it not for the likes and comments but to bless even just one person.

I also realized that there can be days when I don’t have to post anything about my prayer time and just keep them between me and the Lord. After all, more than the likes and comments on social media, what matters most is we spend time with God, act on our prayers, and live out His Word. Kring Talladen (kringtalladen@gmail.com)

reflect

Will you still pray and do good even if no one is watching?

Dear Lord, I am often distracted with many things. Help me to focus on what matters most. Amen.

St. John Francis Regis, pray for us.

No one can outgive God. He is the most generous giver of all time, and we exist because He gave us life. Paul encourages us to be generous with our resources, time, and talent for the sake of God’s Kingdom. He even reinforces that almsgiving is a way to repair sin and help keep alive the memory of the good deeds that we do.

⁶ Brothers and sisters: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. ⁷ Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. ⁹ As it is written: He scatters abroad, he gives to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. ¹⁰ The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 112:1-2, 3-4, 9

R: Blessed the man who fears the Lord.

¹ Blessed the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commands. ² His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. (R) ³ Wealth and riches shall be in his house; his generosity shall endure forever. ⁴ Light shines through the darkness for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. (R) ⁹ Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory. (R)

Gospel | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

There is no need to publicize our good deeds. If someone else reveals our good deeds to others, then that is a different matter. Jesus tells us to trust that the Heavenly Father sees all the good we do. Knowing that we have done a good thing ought to be enough reward for us.

Gospel Acclamation

Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him and we will come to him.

¹ Jesus said to his disciples: “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them; otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father. ² When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. ³ But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, 4 so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. ⁵ “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶ But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you. ¹⁶ “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. ¹⁷ But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, ¹⁸ so that you may not appear to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”

Read the Bible in one year! Read 2 KINGS 1 - 3 today.

People used to say that life is one big stage play with each one of us playing a character with a specific role. The belief is still true, but instead of life being one big stage play, life is now like a telenovela or a series on Netflix. In short, we are all on camera, for better or for worse.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel to be sincere in everything we do because everything we do is “seen by the Father who is hidden” (Matthew 6:18).

But unlike the television cameras and those CCTVs installed in almost every street corner to record everything for the purpose of surveillance—that is, to catch people doing something wrong or sinful—God is more than a “big brother” or camera because everything here on earth is His, including us and whatever we have.

This is why it’s so funny how we keep on complaining about many things in this life when, in fact, we own nothing at all. This is a reality we have learned last year at the height of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic when we found ourselves in difficult situations. Stuck at home for months, we complained of getting so tired with everything, even with life. But when we stopped and prayed, when we felt like being “on cam,” we realized God’s presence and that whatever little or much we have is God’s—nothing is ours.

The pandemic taught us that there is nothing we can claim as ours and keep for ourselves. So true were the words by Saint Paul in our First Reading today: “Moreover, God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work. You are being enriched in every way for all generosity, which through us produces thanksgiving to God.” Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

What are your complaints to God these days?

Thank You, O Lord, for everything. Take everything I have, even the littlest thing I keep to myself as mine because it is still Yours. You see whatever is hidden, and for us to see that, too, is pure grace from You. May we give more, love more, and most of all, see You more. Amen.

Today, I pray for: _________________________________