Advent, the season in which we prepare for Christmas, is a penitential season. One of the key acts of penance that the Church recommends is almsgiving. But why? Citing the Old and New Testaments, the Catechism, and his own engaging personal stories, professor and author Dr. Michael Barber explains the “inner logic” of almsgiving, and how this often-misunderstood aspect of our faith is a critically important good work, related to our own unmerited redemption in Jesus Christ.