Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/522



“Take heed  that  you  do  not  your  justice  before  men  to  be seen  by  them:  otherwise  you  shall  not  have  a reward  of  your Father who  is  in  heaven. Therefore when  thou  dost  an  almsdeed,  sound  not  a trumpet  before  thee,  as  the  hypocrites  do  in the  streets,  that  they  may  be  honoured  by  men: Amen,  I say  to you,  they  have  received  their  reward. But when  thou  dost  alms, let not  thy  left  hand  know  what  thy  right  hand  doth. That thy alms  may  be  in  secret,  and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret will repay  thee.

“And when  ye  pray,  you  shall  not  be  as  the  hypocrites, that love  to  pray  in  the  synagogues  and  corners  of  the  streets, that they  may  be  seen  by  men:  Amen,  I say  to  you,  they  have received their  reward. But thou,  when  thou  shalt  pray,  enter into thy  chamber,  and,  having  shut  the  door,  pray  to  thy  Father in secret,  and  thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  will  repay  thee.

“And when  you  fast,  be  not,  as  the  hypocrites,  sad. For they disfigure their  faces  that  they  may  appear  unto  men  to  fast: Amen, I say  to  you,  they  have  received  their  reward. But thou, when thou  fastest,  anoint  thy  head  and  wash  thy  face. That thou appear not  to  men  to  fast,  but  to  thy  Father  who  is  in  secret, and thy  Father  who  seeth  in  secret  will  repay  thee.”

God is  Omnipresent  and  Omniscient.  He  is,  as  our  Lord  teaches us, in  secret,  and  sees  in  secret. He knows  all  our  thoughts  and  our most hidden  intentions.

The Justice  of  God.  He  will  reward  the  just,  if  not  in  this  world, certainly in  the  next.