St. Paul's motivation for the Corinthians is to give generously. If we give generously to others, we will merit the gift of charity by God in proportion to our generosity. The Lord loves a cheerful giver. God is the giver of all gifts. He gives to all of us the fruits of the earth. If we happen to have more than others, we are responsible to share with the needy and the poor. After all, the entire earth and its riches really belong to God.

The gospel tells us to keep our practice of piety and of penitence secret. If we do a good thing in order to be noticed, we will lose God's eternal reward. In relation to the collection mentioned above, that is, "to give generously", the Corinthians and all of us must not let others know what we are doing. The same is true of fasting: No one should know what we "give up" as an act of penitence. If we let others know, we have lost our reward. When we pray, we are not to put on a jolly good show. Certainly, public prayer is in order. But we also need that time of private and personal prayer, the prayer of the closet. Let us pray earnestly to reap the fruits of sincere worship.