{"id":44919,"date":"2014-03-20T11:15:55","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T16:15:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=44919"},"modified":"2014-03-20T12:23:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T17:23:49","slug":"almsgivinginlent-amplifyaustin2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2014\/03\/almsgivinginlent-amplifyaustin2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Almsgiving in Lent: Amplify Your 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

During Lent, Catholics are asked to pray, fast and give alms. However, of the three, almsgiving is the most neglected.<\/strong>

\"Amplify<\/a>

Amplify Your Lent, Photo by Rita Suva<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n


\nPrayer & Fasting<\/strong> <\/span>
\n\u2028\u2028We usually do pretty good on the prayer part. This is easy because our parishes help us with this one very well, providing increased opportunities for spiritual development at our parishes through weekly Stations of the Cross, a parish Lenten Mission or a daily prayer reflection books provided by the parish. Or we may increase our private devotions such as praying the Rosary or Adoration on a weekly or daily basis.<\/p>\n

\u2028\u2028We usually do pretty good on the fasting part. All Catholics between the ages of 14-59 are required to fast twice a year, on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, from their daily meals. On a fasting day you are permitted to eat one full meal and two smaller meals that do not equal a full meal, unless you have extenuating circumstances (physical labor, pregnancy, sickness etc). And even with an extenuating circumstance you are encouraged to fast from something else (like TV for the day, no sodas, etc). All Catholics starting at the age of 14 are called to abstain from meat, which can be a type of fasting for some. Additionally, many of us \u201cgive up\u201d something else for lent, which is yet another form of fasting. These fastings often take the form of no sweets, no soda, no cussing, etc. Fasting, or “giving something up,” is something most of us learned from very early on in our faith.\u2028\u2028<\/p>\n


\nAlmsgiving<\/strong> <\/span>
\nWe usually don\u2019t do very well on the almsgiving part. First off, almsgiving is not a word used in every day conversation, so the definition and the sentiment behind it can be confusing. And secondly, it can be hard to know what we\u2019re suppose to actually do to give alms. Our parishes often send us off with Ashes to Easter Lent boxes<\/a>, but if you’re like me, they end up staying in your car for half of lent and forgotten. We often think of almsgiving as just giving money to something, yet it is so much more. The book of Tobit gives us some great insight into this: \u201cPrayer with fasting is good. Almsgiving with righteousness is better\u2026 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\u2026\u201d (Tobit 12:8-9<\/a>)\u2028<\/p>\n

\u2028\u2028So, if you\u2019re giving alms, you are ALSO praying and fasting in the process. Almsgiving is a form of prayer because it is giving to God by caring for his people, our neighbors. Almsgiving is a form of fasting because it requires the sacrifice of both giving something of ourselves (hard earned money) AND giving up something (no extra money for a latte, a Sonic drink or that margarita at happy hour).\u2028\u2028 In fact, by giving alms you become a triple-threat for God and are letting the devil know you\u2019re no one to mess around with. Which is part of the reason why almsgiving is so hard to do, understand and remember. The devil likes to keep us away from things that will benefit us and others and bring us closer to God. <\/p>\n

Jesus also told us that almsgiving is a part of living our lives as Christians: \u201c\u2026when you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do… to win the praise of others… But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing, so that your almsgiving may be secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you\u2026\u201d (Matthew 6:2-3<\/a>)\u2028\u2028 Yup, God pays attention to our almsgiving just as much as he pays attention to our prayer and fasting.<\/p>\n

So naturally, now you\u2019re asking yourself, how could you amplify your almsgiving during this season of Lent? Well, you COULD Amplify your 2014!<\/p>\n

\"Make<\/a>

Make It Count, from I Live Here, I Give Here’s blog: http:\/\/www.ilivehereigivehere.org\/blog<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n


\nHuh? Amplify What?<\/strong> <\/span>
\nAmplify Austin! Amplify Austin is a 24-hour festival of giving from 6pm, Thursday, March 20 (today!) to 6pm Friday, March 21, 2014, and it happens to nicely coincide with Lent! Only in it’s second year, last year this event brought in $2.8 million dollars for non-profit organizations in the Austin and Central Texas area. It is sponsored by \u201cI Live Here, I Give Here,\u201d a non-profit, Austin-based organization whose aim is to inspire more Austinites to give donations to non-profits and to encourage Austinites to give even more than they already are. <\/p>\n

\u2028\u2028Now before you say, \u201cI don\u2019t live in Austin, Amplify Austin doesn\u2019t matter to me,\u201d please note that some organizations benefit more than just the Austin area, and include the Diocese of Austin and Central Texas. The organizations participating play an important role in caring for the needs of others and make Austin and Texas a better place to live. And what if you don’t live in Central Texas or the Diocese of Austin? There are many local chapters related to the non-profits that are part of Amplify Austin that would love your almsgiving, particularly Catholic Charities, pro-life organizations and Catholic Schools and Churches.<\/p>\n