“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 synagogues and 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.”
The pursuit of glory, both heavenly and earthly, is a dangerous trap. It draws comparison and complaint, when what is set before someone is a gift that was not deserved. Thus the Psalmist states: “The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my inheritance is goodly to me” (Psalm 15:6), and the Lord Himself says, “Take what is thine, and go thy way… or is it not lawful for me to do what I will?” (Matthew 20:14-15). Counting even the heavenly reward is a look towards oneself, so the Lord exhorts you to turn your heart away from earthly glory to a heavenly reward, with the most perfect prompting for action being a step farther, which is to do what love puts in front of you simply because you love Him. In keeping God perpetually in your heart, you will do all things for His sake, not minding the praise or disdain heaped upon you, because His love alone motivates and drives you. This in turn sends you out, as St. Paul “became all things to all men, that I might save all” (1 Corinthians 9:22). Such a wondrous love draws you out of yourself, desiring to leave fruits of love and beauty in your wake: “Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love” (Song 2:4). Therefore, to do good but with your eye on yourself or on an earthly end is of little worth, but when your eye is on Jesus, and you act from a burning affection, this most surely draws His Heart: “Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes” (Song 4:9). Thus it is of importance to fall in love with God before you hope to undertake works of mercy done well, for without this affection, you cannot help but turn inward, for love alone will push you above doing good for imperfect reasons. Others seeing your good works will come, for the Lord Himself says, “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16), as love cannot be hidden: “Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is not seen: what profit is there in them both?” (Ecclesiasticus 20:32), but love quenches all other motivations. Loving one’s spouse cannot help but carry over into one’s daily, public life, but this is not done for show or boasting, but because the heart is captured by the beloved. The trumpet, then, is any reward besides the love of God, be it praise, money, etc., which should be put away for quiet, humble, confident love. As for the left and right hands, this is a look to forgetting yourself, being so wrapped in the Beloved that you forget what pertains to you and look instead to the love of Jesus: “The light of thy body is thy eye. If thy eye be single, thy whole body will be lightsome” (Luke 11:34), that is, when you lose yourself internally in Christ, you forget yourself and do all things for His sake, not considering your reward or merit, indicated by the left hand, but letting your right hand reach out to Him and do its work for Him. When you act from love, for love, and with love, you receive a reward of your heavenly Father, which is more love: “And of his fulness we all have received, and grace for grace” (John 1:16). Love has no limit, it won’t stop increasing in your life as you love more, and the more you resemble the Savior, Love Incarnate, the more the Father will lavish the gift of His love upon you, for He adorns the beautiful with greater beauty: “For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound” (Matthew 13:12), “Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove’s, thy neck as jewels. We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver” (Song 1:9-10). Therefore, do all things, be they public or private, with a heart wrapped in love: “Your life is hid with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3), that you may not mind the things the opinions of others or the reward you may receive, but to live entirely immersed in the joys of love.