Practice to beat hypocrisy

The challenge of our hypocrisy comes to the mind of Tom Purcell as he reflects on the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary. He is reminded of Jesus observation in Matthew Chapter 7, which he links to today’s passage from Chapter 23, that we seem to be able to see the splinter in our neighbour’s eye but we fail to see the plank in our own eye. The Prophet Ezekiel expresses from his exile in Babylon that God will restore the Temple worship to the lives of the people of Israel. His vocation as priest and prophet, Friar Jude Winkler reminds us, is connected to his deep belief that Temple worship is the most powerful force on earth. Friar Jude links our celebration of the Eucharist and our prayer to our participation in this Divine transforming power through which we are changed. It is the path for us to be able to see our own hypocrisy. When we commit to the change which moves us toward being Christians who practice more of what they preach we are able through the humble service, in which Jesus challenges us to live, to change lives around us. The temptation for human leadership, religious and secular, to become self serving and overwhelmed by honorific titles and privileges is present in modern society. Our commitment to accept prayerful guidance by the Holy Spirit will reveal our own self serving tendencies and we will be able to embrace the hypocrites as brothers and sisters who may be changed in encounters with service and humility. Practice to beat hypocrisy!