Aug 28 – Memorial for St. Augustine, bishop, doctor
After investigating and experimenting with several philosophies, Augustine (354-430) became a Manichaean for several years; it taught of a great struggle between good and evil, and featured a lax moral code. A summation of his thinking at the time comes from his Confessions: “God, give me chastity and continence – but not just now.”
Augustine finally broke with the Manichaeans and was converted by the prayers of his mother and the help of St. Ambrose of Milan, who baptised him. Upon the death of his mother, he returned to Africa, sold his property, gave the proceeds to the poor, and founded a monastery. He founded religious communities and fought heresies. His later thinking can also be summed up in a line from his writings: Our hearts were made for You, O Lord, and they are restless until they rest in you.
2 Ths 3:6-10,16-18
Mt 23:27-32
“Alas for you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You who are like whitewashed tombs that look handsome on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of corruption.”
Ah, the dreaded H word. It keeps getting thrown around. We probably have had it tossed at us; we probably also have hurled it at others. And in recent weeks, it has been popping up a lot as everyone tries to make sense of what morality and integrity mean.
The word ‘hypocrite’ has Greek origins. In ancient Greece, stage actors wore masks to identify themselves as the characters they played. Some current forms of theatre still employ this type of mask wearing or make up or costume to clearly identify specific characters, their personalities, and their expected behaviours. The Greek word ‘hypokrites’ refers to such a stage actor — one who wears a mask and who puts on a certain identity. The word has now evolved to refer to someone who says one thing and does another, one who preaches good, and who acts bad; one who looks like a clean, glistening tombstone but is filled with rotting corpses, as St Matthew so eloquently put it in his gospel.
Hypocrisy is a huge problem. Hypocrisy is preaching one thing, but unapologetically doing something diametrically opposite behind everyone’s backs. There is a song called, “What If I Stumble” by Christian band dcTalk. The song starts with the words, “The single greatest cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Hypocrisy makes skeptics and non-believers out of people who sometimes are craving and yearning to believe. This is the ultimate tragedy of it. And there certainly are many hypocrites around. The question to ask is, am I one?
Many of us wrongly believe ourselves to be hypocrites, simply because we fail to live up to expectations. If we think about it, how many saints have actually been sinless, other than Mother Mary and Jesus himself? I mean yes, they make very good role models, but if we fail to live up to their standards, we need to go easy on ourselves. As God is infinitely patient with us, we need to learn to be patient with ourselves. Role models are good, but they don’t become role models just like that. It is never an easy path to sainthood or martyrdom. There were many many struggles along the way, most of which are struggles with themselves. Likewise, we may teach and defend our faith, but it is also normal to fall short because honestly, the standards are insanely high while being deceptively simple. The important thing is to be humble enough to accept our failings and God’s grace, and to keep on trying.
A true hypocrite does not even try. A true hypocrite lives a life of sin, undercover, while putting on a mask of purity. I’m personally unsure how this could be easier than being a repentant sinner. The stresses of leading a double life would break my brain in no time at all. Easier to say, “Look, I’m not perfect, but I am trying”. A true hypocrite deceives everyone and lives a lie. They have a double standard, one for themselves in private, one for everybody else. It might be that they do not even believe in what they preach because as I mentioned, it is not easy to hold yourself to such a standard. The righteous path is narrow and painful and riddled with many moments of dying to oneself. And so, a hypocrite chooses the wider, prettier, pleasure-filled path, while insisting other people take the narrow path.
And so we have the key difference between being a hypocrite and being a sinner. We are all sinners, because we are all human and weak. Add to that the very high standards that our faith demands, we find ourselves failing many times over. It can be easy to lose hope. It is also convenient for others to point out our failings and label us hypocrites in a bid to discredit the faith we proclaim. And so, in order for us to avoid this pain and to not damage the Church any further, we take a step back. We shrink into the shadows and keep quiet about all that we believe in. We now convince ourselves that our faith must be private and invisible, lest we ourselves tarnish it due to our iniquities. This is the lie that we have fallen into because of our fears of not being good or worthy enough. And I am tempted to say that I think this is exactly what the devil wants. For us to be so shamed by our shortcomings, that we no longer have the courage to proclaim God’s love. Unfortunate, because too many people do need to hear about God’s love.
Further into the song, the lyrics become God speaking to us, “I hear You whispering my name. You say ‘My love for you will never change’”. And there you go — God loves us just as we are, right here and right now. We do not need to become better or do more to justify God’s love or to earn it. In case anyone reading does not quite accept song lyrics as affirmation, how about some words of wisdom from Fr Mike Schmitz himself? In his homily for the Feast of the Transfiguration, he talks about the lie that everyone is told — that we are somehow not quite enough. But the truth is that God has already claimed us as His own, and that is all we need to know — that we are indeed enough.
We are not all hypocrites. Most of us are sinners. We are repentant sinners. We know what is wrong and what is right. We strive to do right, but we often fail. That still does not make us hypocrites, and we cannot let the naysayers shut us up and out. It takes an immense amount of courage and humility to stand in front of the world and admit to your failures, to firmly proclaim your repentance and God’s infinite love for you, and to bravely defend your faith. Not many are willing to do that, and not many are called to do that, thankfully. But we should still hold on to the knowledge of God’s love for us and keep on on our journey of conversion.
So how do we not be hypocrites? The easy way is to reject the teachings that do not suit us. Be an apostate! Just kidding, don’t do that. There are already too many that have done that and we do not need to add to their ranks. I am not saying that every single person, especially people in positions of relative power, has to broadcast their sins and confessions. No. We just have to try hard to believe in and live up to what we preach. It is not easy but with the right communities, prayers, and enough faith and humility, we can make headway.
Brothers and sisters, we are not hypocrites just because we are unable to live up to expectations. This is not hypocrisy, it is just being human and weak. We should not fall into that trap and label ourselves and lose hope in ourselves or our faith, or in others who are likewise struggling. We keep on trying to be better and all the while we keep on defending our faith. And we also keep praying for the conversion of those who really do lead double lives.
Link to Fr Mike’s homily, from 5:43: https://youtu.be/6P5AkfUYf9c.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Felicia Zou)
Prayer: Dear Lord, we often stumble and fall. We pray for the courage to admit to our failures, and the strength to pick ourselves up and carry on.
Thanksgiving: Dear Lord, we thank You for always forgiving us our sins, and for Your everlasting love for us.
OXYGEN 
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