What's So Bad About Pharisees Series

Ash Wednesday 2025

What was the “leaven of the Pharisees”? What led Jesus, when discussing self-discipline, to call these self-described “separate ones” hypocrites when they prayed, fasted, and gave alms to the poor? They were not hypocrites because they followed the Law, Torah. What they wore on their wrists and foreheads had little to do with their real sin.

Prayer is good and is especially recommended by Jesus during Holy Lent. Prayer involves lifting up our hearts—our interior castles where we make decisions and relate heart to heart with others—to God. We meet God through the sacred heart of Jesus in our own weak but devoted hearts. In prayer we are united by God’s freely given, undeserved grace with the Blessed Trinity. In Christ, during our prayer, especially our liturgical prayer, we unite our hearts to other Christians all over the world. But we become hypocrites when our prayer is done in such a way that it is more about us, the one praying, than about our heavenly Father. That’s why Jesus recommends we pray without others having to see us do it. Using hyperbole, He tells us to go into our closet to pray. Better that than hypocrisy.

Fasting is good. It tends to tame our sensual appetites. Thomas Aquinas recommends fasting as a remedy for our sinful tendencies centered on our bodies. That’s why, for instance, the Catholic Church requires fasting and abstinence from flesh meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. When we take the money we spend on food, and apply the excess we might spend on fancy desserts and high-end entrees toward charitable giving, we get double duty from our fast. But we must fast cheerfully. After all, we are uniting ourselves to Christ’s fast in the desert by skipping dessert, or avoiding a whole meal. If we go through Lent with a scowl on our face, or rough up our interactions with others, we lose all benefit, because again we are making it more about us than about imitating our Lord.

Almsgiving is good. By taking money or property from ourselves and giving it directly to poor people or indirectly to a charity that helps the poor, we are imitating Christ, who gave everything for us by coming down from heaven to die for us. Then, having conquered sin and death through His passion and death, He rose from the dead and ascended into heaven. From his divine throne He continues to give through His Holy Spirit. Once more we need to caution ourselves. We must not make our charitable actions more about us than about our All-giving God. Refuse awards when you give to a charity. If they want to honor you with a plaque, put it somewhere that will stimulate others to give themselves to that charity. Your giving is between God, the needy, and yourself, with yourself in last place.

As you enter Lent, you might ask yourself which of the Lenten practices holds the lowest place in your priorities. Prayer, fasting, almsgiving: surely one of these is least attractive to you. Focus your prayer this Lent on that facet, and ask Christ to help you love the practice.