The Church encourages the faithful to journey through Lent by observing three main practices: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. There is no shortage of public discussions and reflections from Catholics considering what they would like to fast from and what prayer they would like to add into their daily routine. But when it comes to almsgiving, conversations on the topic can feel relatively scarce.
If it is one of Lent’s three “pillars,” as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) describes them, almsgiving should not be sidelined, but prioritized, alongside the others.
“The foundational call of Christians to charity is a frequent theme of the Gospels,” the USCCB states. “During Lent, we are asked to focus more intently on ‘almsgiving,’ which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity.”
In its section on Love for the Poor, the Catechism of the Catholic Church extols offering material support to those in need and encourages the spiritual and corporal works of mercy.
And the tradition of the Church is emphatic on that point. The Catechism says the Church's love for the poor “is inspired by the Gospel of the Beatitudes, of the poverty of Jesus, and of his concern for the poor.” The Catechism also relates, quoting Saint John Chrysostom, “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life,” and that “the goods we possess are not ours, but theirs.”
Some ideas on how to share one’s goods with the poor include donating financially through a local parish ministry that serves the poor, giving away not just clothes that one doesn’t wear anymore but perhaps even (or especially!) a top-quality item that is still in great condition, and contacting one’s local pro-life pregnancy center to ask what resources they would find most useful at the moment. Setting aside time to learn about local groups that serve the needy and prayerfully discerning which to support is a good place to start.
Another way to incorporate the habit of almsgiving into one’s daily Lenten routine is to set a goal to tithe a certain amount at the end of Lent to one’s parish, a religious community in need, or a Catholic ministry, and adding a little to a special savings jar for that purpose every day. The jar could be real or digital, or a new line added to one’s budget. One could make a Lenten habit of getting cash back the grocery store, and using those withdrawals to fill a physical jar. Online banking and transactions can make donations feel “impersonal” at times, because human beings are body and soul, so creating a tangible aspect to donating can be particularly helpful in recognizing that a donation has genuine impact.
In the same section of Love for the Poor, the Catechism refers to the works of mercy as “charitable actions by which we come to the aid of our neighbor in his spiritual and bodily necessities.”
“Instructing, advising, consoling, comforting are spiritual works of mercy, as are forgiving and bearing wrongs patiently,” the Catechism continues. “The corporal works of mercy consist especially in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned, and burying the dead. Among all these, giving alms to the poor is one of the chief witnesses to fraternal charity: it is also a work of justice pleasing to God.”
Perhaps it is too late to organize a day of volunteering at a homeless shelter or nursing home this Lent, but one could set aside time during this season to research and discern ways to become involved long-term in the service of a local community. Additionally, the USCCB has a list of ways to practice the corporal works of mercy, which can be found here.
In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV lamented that almsgiving is not only “rarely practiced, but it is even at times disparaged.”
He said “the most important way to help the disadvantaged is to assist them in finding a good job, so that they can lead a more dignified life by developing their abilities and contributing their fair share,” but later added that “where this is not possible, we cannot risk abandoning others to the fate of lacking the necessities for a dignified life.”
Later, the Holy Father continued: “Almsgiving at least offers us a chance to halt before the poor, to look into their eyes, to touch them and to share something of ourselves with them. In any event, almsgiving, however modest, brings a touch of pietas into a society otherwise marked by the frenetic pursuit of personal gain. In the words of the Book of Proverbs: ‘Those who are generous are blessed, for they share their bread with the poor’ (22:9).”
Pope Leo encouraged the faithful to go beyond engaging in theoreticals and ideas about charity by expressing them through concrete actions.
Christians “must not abandon almsgiving,” he urged. “It can be done in different ways, and surely more effectively, but it must continue to be done. It is always better at least to do something rather than nothing. Whatever form it may take, almsgiving will touch and soften our hardened hearts.”