Hypocrisy and Holiness

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to authentic actions that proclaim our solidarity with the suffering of people who work for justice and peace for all God’s children in our world.

Housing and Holiness

The Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah examines our Reasons for Judgment and exhorts us to Authentic Fasting That Leads to Blessing.

* [58:1–5] The prophet is commanded to condemn the formalism of the people, specifically their hypocritical fasting.

* [58:6–12] Fasting is not genuine without reforming one’s way of life. A true social morality will ensure prosperity. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 51 prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought.

* [Psalm 51] A lament, the most famous of the seven Penitential Psalms, prays for the removal of the personal and social disorders that sin has brought. The poem has two parts of approximately equal length: Ps 51:3–10 and Ps 51:11–19, and a conclusion in Ps 51:20–21. The two parts interlock by repetition of “blot out” in the first verse of each section (Ps 51:3, 11), of “wash (away)” just after the first verse of each section (Ps 51:4) and just before the last verse (Ps 51:9) of the first section, and of “heart,” “God,” and “spirit” in Ps 51:12, 19. The first part (Ps 51:3–10) asks deliverance from sin, not just a past act but its emotional, physical, and social consequences. The second part (Ps 51:11–19) seeks something more profound than wiping the slate clean: nearness to God, living by the spirit of God (Ps 51:12–13), like the relation between God and people described in Jer 31:33–34. Nearness to God brings joy and the authority to teach sinners (Ps 51:15–16). Such proclamation is better than offering sacrifice (Ps 51:17–19). The last two verses express the hope that God’s good will toward those who are cleansed and contrite will prompt him to look favorably on the acts of worship offered in the Jerusalem Temple (Ps 51:19 [20–21]). (Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus addresses The Question About Fasting.

* [9:15] Fasting is a sign of mourning and would be as inappropriate at this time of joy, when Jesus is proclaiming the kingdom, as it would be at a marriage feast. Yet the saying looks forward to the time when Jesus will no longer be with the disciples visibly, the time of Matthew’s church. Then they will fast: see Didache 8:1. (Matthew, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. George Meze, SJ, comments that true fasting means sacrificing comfort for the good of others, following Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the Cross; to lose the self in serving God.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus teaches us that while He is with us, we rejoice, but when He is taken away, we fast. This teaches that we celebrate and fast with Him, participating in both the joys and struggles of our neighbors, in whom Jesus is ever present.

A few weeks ago, I met a student who faced a painful Christmas with her sick and dying grandmother. She was reluctant to go home, fearing the pain it would bring. Yet she chose to spend Christmas with her grandmother. There was sorrow, but amid the tears came great consolation in being present for one another. True togetherness in such difficult moments is always expressed in the quiet celebration of love. In our faith, fasting becomes an opportunity to celebrate God’s love and to bring consolation to others. The grace to fast for love is itself a gift. (Meze, 2026)

Don Schwager quotes True fasting, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD

"All the endeavors for fasting are concerned not about the rejection of various foods as unclean, but about the subjugation of inordinate desire and the maintenance of neighborly love. Charity especially is guarded - food is subservient to charity, speech to charity, customs to charity, and facial expressions to charity. Everything works together for charity alone." (excerpt from Letter 243, 11) (Schwager, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments the passage from Isaiah comes from the experience after the exile when the people returned to Israel and things were not going well. They complained that God is not taking care of them. Isaiah observes the people are not embracing service of God and others.  Almsgiving is a religious activity of God. Why do we practice fasting? It helps to keep Christ at the centre of our life. It is a sign of solidarity. The death of a beloved in many societies is marked by fasting because things are not normal. We fast to recall Jesus died for us. Friar Jude reviews the traditional Catholic rules for fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday that involves meals and abstinence  from meat. We don’t have to overdo it. Fasting is not restricted to food, but to anything that keeps us from reaching out to our neighbour.

The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 9:14-15 comments that St. John Paul II once called fasting a “therapy for the soul.” It can help us “in the interior effort of listening to God” (Angelus, March 10, 1996). Denying ourselves, even of the most basic things, like food, can help us identify the attitudes that separate us from the Lord. Through fasting, we can release these attitudes to God and so come to a deeper conversion.

Even if health reasons keep you from fasting from food, there are always other things you can do. You can take some of the time you spend watching TV or scrolling on social media and pray instead. You can “fast” from selfishness or from resentment against a neighbor. Whatever you do, know that God wants you to make a sincere offering to him. He wants you to turn your heart to him so that when Lent is over, you will “taste” more of the joy of his resurrection.

“Lord, help me to turn my heart to you.” (Meditation on Matthew 9:14-15, n.d.)

Fr Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Author Lisa Colón DeLay reflects on the purpose behind the asceticism that is commonly found in the teachings and stories of the early desert spirituality.

All the desert abbas and ammas show us that one-off special insights are not what bring us spiritual maturity or peace. Through the layering of situations, struggles, and seasons, we grow more devoted, mature, and wise. The inheritance in the kingdom of heaven means possessing Christlikeness; this inheritance comes in slow disbursements that take diligence and attention to learn and receive. We accomplish this not over weeks or months but over decades—over our lifetime and even into and throughout generations. The place is slow. Let’s get accustomed to that and settle in for the long haul.

The spiritual seeds the ammas and abbas once planted in the fertile soil of seekers can still beautifully bloom now in the soil of you, more than 1,500 years later. This is how the glory of God works. You are the glory of God made manifest. [2] (Rohr, n.d.)

We seek the Wisdom of the Spirit as we contemplate our Lenten “fasting” and act with a focus on deepening our relationship with God and the people we encounter without hypocrisy.

References

Isaiah, CHAPTER 58 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/58?1 

Matthew, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/9?14 

Meditation on Matthew 9:14-15. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/20/1505893/ 

Meze, G. (2026, February 20). Daily Reflection February 20, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-20-2026 

Psalms, PSALM 51 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/51?3 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). A Living Tradition. Center for Contemplation and Action. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/living-tradition/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Fasting for the Kingdom of God. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 20, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

Choice and Denial

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to make an informed choice about our action as followers of Christ that confirms our willingness to seek full life for all.

Ponder Our Choice

The Reading from the Book of Deuteronomy proclaims The Choice Before Israel.

j. [30:15] Dt 11:26–28; Jer 21:8.

k. [30:16] Dt 4:1; 8:1; 11:22.

l. [30:17–18] Dt 5:7; 6:4; 8:19–20.

m. [30:19] Dt 4:26; 11:26–28; 28:2, 15; 31:28.

n. [30:20] Dt 1:8; 4:1, 40. (Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 1 is a preface to the whole Book of Psalms .

* [Psalm 1] A preface to the whole Book of Psalms, contrasting with striking similes the destiny of the good and the wicked. The Psalm views life as activity, as choosing either the good or the bad. Each “way” brings its inevitable consequences. The wise through their good actions will experience rootedness and life, and the wicked, rootlessness and death. (Psalms, PSALM 1 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus presents The Conditions of Discipleship.

* [9:23] Daily: this is a Lucan addition to a saying of Jesus, removing the saying from a context that envisioned the imminent suffering and death of the disciple of Jesus (as does the saying in Mk 8:34–35) to one that focuses on the demands of daily Christian existence. (Luke, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB, n.d.)

Tom Kelly comments that today’s readings offer criteria about what a faithful life looks like. One is from the final book of Deuteronomy, while the other is from the Gospel of Luke.  Both offer thoughts on the temptation of short-term gains and encourage us to live for long-term goals.

As we know, he was persecuted because he threatened the religious leaders of his day by stating that all were loved by God—without conditions.  The people he revealed this to no longer allowed the religious leaders to determine their status before God.  Thus, Jesus threatened the power and authority of the religious leaders of his day and there were severe consequences.

In like manner, (2) those who follow Jesus must give themselves for the good of others (“Love one another as I have loved you.”)

This may be our children, our neighbor, our stranger, our “other” and when we love them, we must bear the consequences (the cross) of that action. If my first concern is me, I will truly die as I am finite and limited.  If my first concern is loving others, and I commit my life to that—I cannot die because this love, like God, is eternal. (Kelly, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “God calls us to conversion,” by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD.

"God calls us to correct ourselves and invites us to do penance. He calls us through the wonderful gifts of his creation, and he calls us by granting time for life. He calls us through the reader and through the preacher. He calls us with the innermost force of our thoughts. He calls us with the scourge of punishment, and he calls us with the mercy of his consolation." (excerpt from Commentary on Psalm 102, 16) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 9:22-25 implores us to take up the cross of loving someone even if they are hard to love. We seek help to take the first step toward that other person.

“Jesus, as you hung on the cross, you asked your Father why he had abandoned you. But your death opened the gates of heaven for me! Every barrier between me and your Father has been removed. When you offer me the cross of physical or emotional suffering, help me to embrace it. Help me to trust that even when I’m suffering or feel abandoned, you are always close to me, pouring your love into my heart. As I surrender to your will, let me know the freedom of relying on you. Let me know the freedom and joy that flow from knowing you are walking beside me.

“Lord Jesus, thank you for all you have done on the cross! Help me to take up my own cross and know the freedom you have won for me.” (Meditation on Luke 9:22-25, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler comments that in the Deuteronomy reading, Moses puts two paths before the people, life observing the commandments, or death. In Lent, God presents a choice to us and we are not able to remain sitting on the fence. In Luke, Jesus, identifying as the Son of Man, declares He would suffer, die, and rise again. The disciples too have to take up their cross and give everything they have to be like Christ in the world. Friar Jude underlines our need to recognize conversion and rectification to be more Christ-like.

Fr Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that Trappist monk Thomas Merton (1915–1968) did much to recover the contemplative tradition within the Christian religion. 

Our time is in desperate need of this kind of simplicity. It needs to recapture something of the experience reflected in these lines. The word to emphasize is experience. The few short phrases collected in this volume have little or no value merely as information. It would be futile to skip through these [aphorisms] and lightly take note of the fact that the Fathers said this and this. What good will it do us to know merely that such things were once said? The important thing is that they were lived. That they flow from an experience of the deeper levels of life. [1] (Rohr, 2025)

Benedicta Ward, a scholar of the desert mystics, describes how the simple language of the desert abbas and ammas can mask the deep wisdom they contain. 

The essence of the spirituality of the desert is that it was not taught but caught; it was a whole way of life. It was not an esoteric doctrine or a predetermined plan of ascetic practice that would be learned and applied. The Father, or ‘abba,’ was not the equivalent of the Zen Buddhist ‘Master.’ 

Abba Agathon said, “Prayer is hard work and a great struggle to one’s last breath” and there is the story told about Abba Lot:

Abba Joseph came to Abba Lot and said to him: “Father, according to my strength I keep a moderate rule of prayer and fasting, quiet and meditation, and as far as I can I control my imagination; what more must I do?” And the old man rose and held his hands toward the sky so that his fingers became like flames of fire and he said, “If you will, you shall become all flame.” [2] (Rohr, 2025)

We invoke the guidance of the Spirit to deny the temptation of choices that are self-serving and seek contemplation that leads to action in prayer and service for people in need.

References

Deuteronomy, CHAPTER 30 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/deuteronomy/30?15 

Kelly, T. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-february-19-2026 

Luke, CHAPTER 9 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?22 

Meditation on Luke 9:22-25. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/02/19/1505241/ 

Psalms, PSALM 1 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/1 

Rohr, R. (2025, March 13). Experience Over Knowledge. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/experience-over-knowledge/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Take up Your Cross Daily and Follow Christ. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved February 19, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/