Let’s be honest—when we hear the word almsgiving, we might think, “Okay, donate something and check the Lent box.” But there’s more to it than that.
For Catholics today, especially during Lent, almsgiving isn’t just about tossing a few extra bucks into the collection basket or Venmo-ing a charity. It’s about asking: What do I have that someone else truly needs? And am I willing to part with it—not just conveniently, but sacrificially?
Almsgiving is one of the three pillars of Lent—alongside prayer and fasting—but it’s often the least understood. In today’s world, where giving often feels transactional or tied to tax receipts, the Church invites us to rediscover almsgiving as a spiritual discipline, not just a charitable act.
St. John Chrysostom once said, “Not to enable the poor to share in our goods is to steal from them and deprive them of life.” In other words, almsgiving is not optional. It’s justice. The goods we have—time, money, talents—are entrusted to us for the sake of others.
For modern Catholics, this might look like consistent, quiet generosity: giving to someone without expecting recognition; offering material support to a family in need; even donating time to someone who cannot repay it.
St. Basil the Great warned, “The bread you store belongs to the hungry; the cloak you keep hidden belongs to the naked.” That’s not poetic exaggeration—it’s a sober reminder that almsgiving is about detachment from wealth and attachment to Christ in the poor.
And it’s not about how much we give, but how we give. As St. Teresa of Calcutta put it, “It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into giving.” During Lent, we are called to a deeper simplicity—a willingness to be interrupted, to give even when it costs us.
Practically, that could mean creating space in your weekly budget for intentional giving. It might mean refusing to ignore the homeless person you pass every day. Or checking in on someone you know is struggling—not with advice, but with presence.
The saints remind us: almsgiving is not merely for the benefit of others. It is for our own salvation.
