Cult, ritual and tradition have blurred our vision so much so that our pious practices of almsgiving, fasting and praying tend to become transactions we have even with our God. If we do a sneak preview of why we do a good deed it may give us an insight of where our heart is in the matter. (Mt. 6:1-6).

'There is no limit to the blessings which God can send you' (2 Cor. 9:8), so why do we calculate what we do for God or neighbour or are our works of piety merely a means to buy ourselves some affirmation from the public? The moment we take credit for the good we do we cease to proclaim the source of all goodness - God.

Jesus reminds us that the proper perspective of all our religious activities is not just a blind fidelity to the law and the commandments but an acute awareness that "the Father sees" what is in our heart of hearts (Mt. 6:4,6,18). If we learn to walk in God's presence we will come to realise as St Paul says, "God will make sure that we will always have all we need for ourselves in every possible circumstance and still have something to spare ..." (2 Cor. 9:8).

God is a generous giver and we can never ever be outdone by His generosity, no matter how hard we try. So let our deeds become pure acts of thanksgiving to our Father (2 Cor. 9:11).