20181019
YEAST OF HYPOCRISY
19 OCTOBER,
2018, Friday, 28th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Ephesians 1:11-14 ©
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You have been stamped with the seal of
the Holy Spirit
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It is in Christ that we were claimed as
God’s own,
chosen from the beginning,
under the predetermined plan of the one
who guides all things
as he decides by his own will;
chosen to be,
for his greater glory,
the people who would put their hopes in
Christ before he came.
Now you too, in him,
have heard the message of the truth and
the good news of your salvation,
and have believed it;
and you too have been stamped with the
seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise,
the pledge of our inheritance
which brings freedom for those whom God
has taken for his own, to make his glory praised.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
32(33):1-2,4-5,12-13 ©
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Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
Ring out your joy to the Lord, O you just;
for praise is fitting for
loyal hearts.
Give thanks to the Lord upon the harp,
with a ten-stringed lute sing
him songs.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
For the word of the Lord is faithful
and all his works to be
trusted.
The Lord loves justice and right
and fills the earth with his
love.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
They are happy, whose God is the Lord,
the people he has chosen as
his own.
From the heavens the Lord looks forth,
he sees all the children of
men.
Happy the people the
Lord has chosen as his own.
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Gospel Acclamation
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cf.Ps18:9
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Your words gladden the heart, O Lord,
they give light to the eyes.
Alleluia!
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Or:
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Ps32:22
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Alleluia, alleluia!
May your love be upon us, O Lord,
as we place all our hope in you.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 12:1-7 ©
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Not one sparrow is forgotten in God's
sight
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The people had gathered in their thousands
so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to speak, first of
all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the yeast of the
Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy. Everything that is now covered will
be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason,
whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you
have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.
‘To
you my friends I say: Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after
that can do no more. I will tell you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has
killed, has the power to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not
buy five sparrows for two pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight.
Why, every hair on your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid:
you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.’
YEAST OF HYPOCRISY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ EPHESIANS 1:11-14; LUKE 12:1-7 ]
“The people had gathered in their
thousands so that they were treading on one another. And Jesus began to
speak, first of all to his disciples. ‘Be on your guard against the
yeast of the Pharisees – that is, their hypocrisy.’” Why
did Jesus call the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, the yeast? Sadly, it was
their hypocrisy that was the cause of their downfall. As the Lord
reprimanded them, “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he
said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far
from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as
doctrines.'” (Mt 15:7-9)
Why is hypocrisy
described as a yeast? We know that yeast will grow and spread. So,
too, hypocrisy, which springs from the sin of Pride, will lead to many
offsprings of sin.
Underlying the sin of hypocrisy is the desire to look good before others.
That is why it is fundamentally the sin of pride. We want to be
appreciated, recognized, liked, adored and even worshipped. It comes from
our insecurity and the desire to be accepted and admired. As a result, we
try to appear good, righteous, holy and kind. But deep in our hearts, we
know that we are not. So, for the sake of public image we appear to be
that kind of person.
By so doing, who we are
and what we are suffer a dichotomy. We live a double life; a public life where we project
ourselves to be the person that people expect of us; and a private life where
we are anything but the public persona we project. We try hard to live up
to people’s expectations, projecting a confident, self-made and happy
facade. But deep within us, we are insecure, lonely, empty and
tired. This accounts for why many of us live a double life, including
priests and religious. They try hard to live up to peoples’ expectations,
but they suffer an emotional and psychological misfit. This explains why
some celebrities commit suicide, to the surprise and dismay of their many
fans. And we are scandalized to find religious people and professionals
who are pedophiles, or are having extra marital affairs.
Hypocrisy leads to a
loss of our real identity.
We want to believe that we are that kind of person when we are not. We
seek to be holy and do things people expect of us. We think we are
worshipping God with all our pious acts and rituals, but we are in truth
worshipping ourselves. We think we are serving our people, but in
reality, we are serving ourselves because we want appreciation and
recognition. We do not worship or serve God or people with the right
motive.
What is even more
devious is that hypocrisy leads to self-righteousness. When we think we are so good and
holy, or so efficient and hardworking, we begin to despise others who cannot do
as much as us. We condemn others who fail in their moral life. We
pass judgement on them as if we are sinless ourselves. We pick at the
faults of others, always looking and judging others, instead of looking at our
own failings. We make ourselves the judge of others, wanting to take out
the splinter from our neighbour’s eyes whilst failing to see the beam in our
own eyes. (cf Mt 7:1-5)
This sin of hypocrisy is
supported by lying and boasting. We tell all kinds of lies to cover up our sins and
failings. We are afraid to tell the truth for fear that people might not
love us once they discover our weaknesses. They are always boasting of
what they are doing and how much they have accomplished in life. They
like to show off their wealth, their generosity, their kindness and their good
deeds. It is all about creating a good image.
But are we that
different from the Pharisees?
They were the supposedly good Jews from the Old Covenant. They were trying
to make themselves the model of how a true Jew should conduct himself.
Unwittingly, they ended up being hypocritical because, as the Lord said of
them, “For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in
yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single
convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as
yourselves.” (Mt 23:13-15 cf Mt 23:1-36)
Indeed, we are also the
hypocrites of the Christian Faith. We come to church to worship God but we
quarrel at the car park and in church over seats. We park our cars
inconsiderately, blocking residents’ gates, and take our time removing our cars
after service, preventing others from leaving. We receive communion just
because everyone else does, even when we are in mortal sin. We serve in
Church ministries, but at home and at work, we order people around and do
nothing to help them. We go for seminars, growth talks and devotions but
we do not live out the gospel life. We do holy things but do not live
holy lives. So who are we to condemn the Pharisees when we are the new
ones.
Today, the Lord warns us
of the danger of hypocrisy. Sooner or later, we will be exposed and we
will have nowhere to hide our faces. “Everything that is now covered will be
uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. For this reason,
whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you
have whispered in hidden places will be proclaimed on the housetops.”
Indeed, the truth about ourselves, our character and the motives of our deeds
will be revealed and we will be put to even greater shame. Even if we are
not, we cannot live in peace but always in fear because of the possibility that
we will be exposed one day. St John wrote, “Let us love, not in word or
speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from
the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts
condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God.” (1 Jn 3:18-21)
Today, we are reminded
of who we are. We are the chosen ones of God, not because of our merits
but simply because of His grace and love. “It is in Christ that we were claimed as
God’s own, chosen from the beginning, under the predetermined plan of the one
who guides all things as he decides by his own will; chosen to be, for his
greater glory, the people who would put their hopes in Christ before he
came.” So we do not need to prove ourselves to be loved by God. He
loves us as we are. We are His adopted sons and daughters. Of
course He wants us to share in the fullness of His life and love. This is
what it means to be chosen for His greater glory. That is why we can live
a life of freedom and peace. “Now you too, in him, have heard the message
of the truth and the good news of your salvation, and have believed it; and you
too have been stamped with the seal of the Holy Spirit of the Promise, the
pledge of our inheritance which brings freedom for those whom God has taken for
his own, to make his glory praised.”
Flowing from this new
identity, we are called to live it out so that we can become who we are meant
to be. St Peter said, “Therefore,
brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election,
for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into
the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided
for you.” (2 Pt 1:10f) St John in a
similar vein wrote, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has
not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be
like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him
purify themselves, just as he is pure.” (1 Jn 3:2f) This means that we are not perfect
now. God knows that and He accepts that we are not what and who we should
be as yet. It is a process of becoming God’s adopted sons and
daughters. He is patient with our growth and He waits for us to grow in
grace, slowly but surely.
So flowing from the
gratitude of being called and chosen, we strive to live according to our new
identity, not with our own strength but with His grace. This is what the psalmist
says. “Happy the people the Lord has chosen as his own. For the
word of the Lord is faithful and all his works to be trusted. The Lord loves
justice and right and fills the earth with his love. They are happy,
whose God is the Lord, the people he has chosen as his own. From the heavens
the Lord looks forth, he sees all the children of men.”
Hence, we can afford to
be authentic people. We recognize we are sinners and yet to be saints. So let us not be afraid to admit our
weaknesses and at the same time focus on our growth in Christ-likeness more and
more. This is what the Lord is asking of us. He is asking us to be
authentic when He said, “To my friends I say: Do not be afraid of
those who kill the body and after that can do no more. I will tell you
whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into
hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him. Can you not buy five sparrows for two
pennies? And yet not one is forgotten in God’s sight. Why, every hair on
your head has been counted. There is no need to be afraid: you are worth
more than hundreds of sparrows.” Indeed, the Lord is with us and He will
protect us from hypocrisy even as we strive to be His true sons and
daughters. But let us not allow people’s judgment to affect us.
Rather, we should accept God’s judgement instead, as St Paul said. “I am
not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the
Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before
the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and
will disclose the purposes of the heart.” (1 Cor 4:4f)
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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