People of integrity

The psalmist in the text from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today compares the way of the wicked and the way of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked or do not sit in the seat of the scoffers. The first praise prayer of the Book of Psalms is a statement of the protection to prosperity of those who do not associate with evil people. The difficulty we have with this advice is that we can see parts of ourselves in the activities which are noted as being opposed to righteousness. The Letter to the Ephesians celebrates the freedom to love as Jesus loves which is the calling of the disciple. We understand that the Way to live is as Jesus and yet we are drawn to practices which would be confusing to those observing our lives. Our desire to follow the will of the Father appears to produce actions in the world which are no different than those who do not profess a relationship with God. Hypocrisy exists within us and within the institutions of good people struggling to be righteous. Friar Jude Winkler exhorts us to be aware of the danger that those who observe the life style of the followers of Jesus may not be transmitting as strongly as possible the power of the Gospel to transform lives. The WWJD (what would Jesus do) acronym can be the stimulus for seeking the guidance of the Spirit in our daily decisions. We understand the apparent excitement of the crowds in the synagogue when Jesus exposes the hypocrisy of the synagogue official who tries to prohibit the loving healing of God to work on the Sabbath. The hypocrisy detector is very sensitive in people. Our intention is never to set off this detector and have the assessment of life in the Spirit diminished in the understanding of others. We are sinners who need to present our struggle and our desire to embrace higher moral values in our daily lives. Thank God.