“Don’t Be a Hypocrite” by Colleen O’Sullivan

“Don’t Be a Hypocrite” by Colleen O’Sullivan

Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time

You, O man, are without excuse, every one of you who passes judgment. For by the standard by which you judge another you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the very same things. (Romans 2:1)

The Lord said: "Woe to you Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done, without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen graves over which people unknowingly walk." (Luke 11:42-44)

Piety

Only in God is my soul at rest;
from him comes my salvation.
He only is my rock and my salvation,
my stronghold; I shall not be disturbed at all. (Psalm 62:2-3)

Study

Paul is writing to the Christians in Rome in today’s first reading, but he could have been addressing people at almost any time or place. We don’t seem very able to help ourselves. We always manage to point the finger at other people’s faults, real or imagined. To add insult to injury, Paul points out that often what we judge someone else for is something we ourselves have already done as well. Far less frequently do we hold ourselves up to scrutiny. Jesus addresses this very issue with the Pharisees in the Gospel reading. He says they outwardly do the right things, but when it comes to sharing God’s love and mercy, they show themselves to be empty and dead inside.

This is truly not just a first-century problem. Turn on your television set. From now until the 2020 elections, there will continue to be finger-pointing on every news show and in every political ad. The Democrats have nothing good to say about the Republicans. The Republicans are no admirers of the Democrats and don’t hesitate to say so. Seldom, however, do we hear members of either party doing any soul-searching as to how their party could improve the way it represents or proposes to represent the people in our country.

Or look at the problems in our Church. Way more judging and finger-pointing going on than serious efforts to make anything better. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself what you personally could contribute to the problem-solving side? It turns out that it’s a lot easier to stand back and criticize others.

I went to a day of prayer recently and was amazed to hear the facilitator talk about moving in with three new housemates, each of whose faults he could already enumerate. I wondered if those same housemates had already taken his inventory!

Action

I have asked myself many times why it is so much easier to see a minuscule speck in someone else’s eye than it is to notice and identify the log in our own. It doesn’t take nearly as much energy to point out someone else’s fault as it does to admit to our own. The best way I know to be more honest with ourselves is to spend more time with Jesus. When Jesus is gazing upon you and you look back into his eyes, it’s extremely difficult to be dishonest. Jesus knows everything about you and, yet, condemnation is absent from his expression. The Lord’s loving look invites you to be candid, to trust him. Ask Jesus to help you identify your faults. Is Paul right in saying that what we scorn in others resides in us? Maybe that’s the starting place in identifying our sins. Be honest and think twice before the next time you judge someone else.