Lesson [26th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A]

Hypocrisy Causes Spiritual Blindness

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus speaks this parable towards the very end of his life. He is in Jerusalem the week before his crucifixion.

He spends his nights outside the city with his disciples and his days inside the Temple, debating with the Jewish scholars and leaders who are trying to discredit and humiliate him.

He tells this parable for them, in order to break through their blindness. These leaders, the ones who are against Jesus and who will soon arrange his death, are Palestine's experts in religion. They are the ones who serve in the Temple, study the sacred Scriptures, preach to the crowds, and rule and govern God's Chosen people.

They claim to be God's close collaborators, the ones who are following God's commandments better than anyone else. And yet, these are the very ones who fail to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Sinners and social outcasts on the other hand, like tax collectors and prostitutes, do recognize Jesus; they believe in him, and they repent from their sin.

Why are the chief priests and elders unable to see the truth? Why do they, like the second son in the parable, say that they are God's followers, but then refuse to obey the Messiah of God?

This is an important question for us. We are among the small percentage of Catholics who come to Sunday Mass - we are the ones who appear to be following the Lord. And so, we too are in danger of falling into this same blindness, of thinking that we are doing God's will in our lives, but actually not doing it.

The cause of their spiritual blindness can also become the cause of our spiritual blindness. What is this cause? Hypocrisy. Keeping up the appearances of a good Catholic, but compromising the substance.

The Weakness of Disguises

Jesus condemned hypocrisy more energetically than any other sin. Maybe this was because it is one of the easiest sins to fall into. It's so easy to change our outward behaviour in order to fit in with everyone around us.

But it's a losing strategy, because sooner or later every actor has to take off his mask. This was especially true for the Marquis [mahr-KEY] de Condorset [cone-door-SAY], a nobleman who lived in France at the time of the French Revolution.

The Revolution was tough on nobility. For years the aristocracy had exploited the common people, forcing many of them to suffer and starve while the nobles lived in luxury. With the revolution came payback.

The guillotine was the method of choice for the people's revenge. During the Revolution, many noblemen tried to escape execution by disguising themselves to slip out of the country undetected.

This particular Marquis donned the ragged clothes of a peasant and attempted to make his way to the nearest border. His ploy worked until he stopped at an inn full of real peasants.

The disguised nobleman walked into the inn, sat down at a table, and ordered an omelette made with a dozen eggs. That wasn't a smart thing to do in front of a group of people who never would have been able to afford such an extravagant meal. They immediately saw through his disguise. The nobleman's mistake ended up sending him to the guillotine.

Hypocrisy is like that: we put on different disguises in order to fit in with different crowds. But in the end that kind of selfish living for appearances leads to self-destruction - when we lose sight of who we really are, we also lose sight of everyone else, including God.

Making God's Will Our Rule of Life

The surest way to banish hypocrisy from our lives is to adopt as our personal motto the phrase that Jesus taught us in the Our Father: "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done."

God's will is dependable and truthful, and when we make it our highest priority, we too become dependable and truthful. And unlike followers of some other religions, as Christians we have an objective standard for God's will that protects us from doing evil and calling it "the will of God."

This standard is drawn from the three basic sources of God's will. First, there are the commandments of the Bible as authentically interpreted by the Church. The third part of the Catechism is dedicated entirely to explaining what these commandments entail, and how to apply them to real life. 80% of life's dilemmas can be solved right there.

Second, there are the responsibilities of our state in life. God guides each of our lives, placing us in a family and a community, giving us talents to use for the good of our neighbour, and calling each one of us to a vocation. The normal responsibilities that go with these basic realities are God's will for us. By fulfilling them with attention and love, we glorify God, achieve our purpose, and build up God's eternal Kingdom.

Finally, God sometimes sends special inspirations, which need to be discerned, prayed over, discussed with a wise spiritual guide, and then acted upon with prudence and humility.

God's commandments, the responsibilities of our state in life, and the inspirations of the Holy Spirit: this is the threefold path to a truthful, fulfilling life, free from the poison of hypocrisy. Today, let's make Christ's motto our motto: Thy Kingdom come, Lord, and thy will be done, in my life, just as it is in heaven.