Begging is not just about giving money

"It is not what we give, but how much love we put into giving." - Mother Teresa.

Three things we are asked for during Lent are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

Growing up, I always thought that almsgiving was the odd one out. It seemed like the responsibility of our parents; we were just the middlemen who left money in the church collection bag. It seemed the easiest task to complete; the other two took a little more time and effort.

One Sunday during Lent, as a child, I remembered that Jesus said that when we give, the left hand must not know what the right hand is doing. So as the offertory approached, my right hand began to carefully extract only one coin from my pocket, while my brain and my left hand did their best to ignore.

My parents saw my fight and were completely amused by the naivety of the son when I explained myself.

In 2014, I was abroad on business and needed to withdraw cash from an ATM before dinner. A lady, wrapped in a thin blanket with her son sitting next to me, asked me for money just as I collected it. As I obeyed my brain and walked away, what he said is still etched in my mind to this day. "We are human too!" she exclaimed.

That accident changed me. Today, as a young adult, I realize that the brain and left hand always interfere with giving. Either the brain casts doubt and causes inaction, or the left hand empties the pocket first.

Recently in a similar accident at home in Singapore, I was withdrawing cash in my neighborhood to buy family food when a woman asked me for money. This time I asked her if she had lunch and I said, "Wait for me, I'm going to get you a packet of chicken rice." As I handed her the packet of food, the puzzled expression on her face told me that no one had ever done it for her. But when she started sharing her situation with me, I immediately apologized thinking I had done my part.

Begging is actually the most difficult task of the three because we are called to give without being calculators and to give more than just money. Perhaps we can give more to what is most precious to us this Lent: our time.

Don't let our minds and left hands guide our giving. Instead, let Jesus guide our hearts this Lent.