Today's homily at mass stemmed from a gospel where Jesus called leaders of the Jewish community hypocrites. That sure is a tough word, and anyone who has ever had it directed at them knows how much it can hurt. It's like a needle or even a rapier that penetrates the ego we use as a protection.
Most of us, I guess, have some kind of mental titles or names we readily apply to ourselves -- friend, family member, teacher, .... but when today's homilist suggested the title "hypocrite" for each of us, that hit home. Was I willing to acknowledge that there was any hypocrisy in me? It's not a statement that I automatically accept as valid, and it's my guess that the same is true of most of us. A bit of soul searching, however, led me to some insight and made me remember what I wrote earlier this month about illusion.
It's hard to see ourselves as others see us. The same applies to things we do. How well do my externals match my interior life? I profess to live as a member of God's kingdom. How often do I act more like someone for whom the kingdom is tomorrow, not right now? When I immerse myself in contemporary life -- work, fun, media, politics --, what set of values do I put on the table? Do others see my interior life reflected in what I do or say? If there's no match, does that make me hypocritical?
I think we frequently judge the effectiveness of things we do by our own intentions in doing them, and so we can tend to give ourselves higher marks than we deserve. Maybe if we examine our lives for spots of potential hypocrisy, we'll find new areas for inner growth.
a KY monk
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