A Reflection for the Memorial of St. Monica
Find today’s readings here.
In August 2021, Pope Francis called hypocrisy in the church “particularly detestable,” noting that there was clear evidence in the Gospels to support his claim. “If you have some time today,” Francis noted, “pick up the twenty-third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew and see how many times Jesus says: ‘hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites.’”
A few verses from that chapter makes up today’s Gospel reading and, indeed, it is clear that Jesus has little patience for those who say one thing and do another. In particular, Jesus calls out the scribes and Pharisees, those who are meant to be leaders in the faith. “Woe to you…You pay tithes of mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and fidelity.”
There is a particular irony in faith leaders who, while loudly preaching the truth, do not attempt to live it. “Hypocrites are people who pretend, flatter and deceive because they live with a mask over their faces and do not have the courage to face the truth,” Francis said. “For this reason, they are not capable of truly loving: a hypocrite does not know how to love.” Could any fate be worse?
So horrid is this description that few of us would self-identify as a hypocrite, even as we often freely point out such qualities in others. But today’s Gospel also reminds us of the need for that self-reflection, to “cleanse first the inside of the cup,” tending to our inner life and spirituality as a way of properly ordering and orienting our outward-facing rituals. Doing so not only allows us to speak more truthfully and lovingly, but it makes it more likely that we will be heard. It permits us to recognize our own faults more readily, and to more willingly recognize the good in others, too.
