Not So Delightful Hypocrites, False Guides and Saints in Jest
“The essence of immorality is the tendency to make an exception of myself.” ~ Jane Addams
I must admit I was rather amused with the stark contrast in today’s Psalm (149) wherein we are reminded that “the Lord takes delight in his people” in comparison to the opening of our Gospel (Matthew 24:13-23) and Jesus’ scorching attack on the Pharisees.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You lock the Kingdom of heaven before men. You do not enter yourselves,
nor do you allow entrance to those trying to enter.” Jesus says to them.
It would get worse.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”
I could go on, but by now you get the idea. Spoiler Alert: In tomorrow’s Gospel (Matthew 23:23-26) we’ll be getting more of the same. Be ready for it the day after tomorrow as well (Matthew 23:27-32). As my Pastor is prone to swiftly point out, whenever Jesus kicks off a sentence in the Gospel with the words “woe to you...” business is about to pick up, and not in a good way.
Clearly Jesus counts hypocrisy amongst the most loathsome of sins.
The Catholic Encyclopedia defines the word “hypocrisy” as the pretension to qualities to which one does not possess. Relative to today’s Gospel episode, it speaks to the putting forward of a false appearance of virtue or religion.
In his formative book “The Doctrine of Repentance,” author Thomas Watson said of hypocrisy “the hypocrite or stage-player has gone a step beyond the moralist and dressed himself in the garb of religion. He pretends to a form of godliness but denies the power (II Tim. 3:5). The hypocrite is a saint in jest. He makes a magnificent show, like an ape clothed in ermine or purple. The hypocrite is like a house with a beautiful facade, but every room within is dark. He is a rotten post fairly gilded. Under his mask of profession he hides his plague-sores. The hypocrite is against painting of faces, but he paints holiness. He is seemingly good so that he can be really bad. In Samuel’s mantle he plays the devil.”
As we reflect upon hypocrisy, a sin that we all have been prone to at some point or another, it would seem that the true flaw of its very being is rooted in the fact that it leads one to put their desire to gain favor with man above their desire to be genuine and true to God. Violation of the 1st Commandment is certainly in play here.
Serious stuff.
So how do we avoid succumbing to bouts of hypocritical thoughts and behavior?
Pope Francis has spoken out frequently on the danger of hypocrisy during his pontificate, once commenting “The sign that we are far from the Lord is hypocrisy.” He offers this advice for avoiding hypocrisy and instead pursuing holiness in your life: “To avoid hypocrisy, truth is essential. Hypocrites do not like the truth. They only like themselves and so they try to deceive and to involve others in their falsehood, in their lying. They have a false heart, they are unable to tell the truth.”
It is through prayer, acknowledging our own faults, eschewing formalism for love, selflessly reaching out to assist others, and “learning the language of truth” that we may reduce the occurrence of hypocrisy in our lives and instead pursue the virtues of compassion, charity and yes, truth.
“Lord, help me to be quick to look at myself when I am prone to look over to others. Thank you that you have abundant and unceasing grace for me. I ask you to restore me in fullness with you. Teach me your ways and help me to be receptive to them, so I will not fall. Help me Lord. You rule and I surrender all my ways, thoughts, opinions, perceptions and decisions to you.” ~ Amen.
