Between 1845 and 1852, the Great Potato Famine ravaged Ireland and was responsible for the deaths of some 1 million people, which was more than 10% of the population of the Emerald Isle. At the time, the potato was an affordable, reliable foundation of every working family’s diet. What was especially cruel about this potato blight was that it left the vegetable looking unscathed on the outside. The affected potatoes appeared large, firm, and hearty. But when cut open, they were rotten, hollow, and rancid from the center to within a half-inch of its outer skin. What had looked promising as a meal couldn’t even produce a mouthful of nourishment. The potatoes rotted from the inside out and provided false hope until the moment the inside was revealed.
The very same thing happens to us as humans whenever we allow hypocrisy to take root within us. This disease that rots us from the inside out, already has a head start in every person because of original sin. It is only through reliance on God’s grace, frequent reception of the sacraments, daily prayer and constant vigilance that it is kept away.
For this reason, we are warned explicitly in today’s Scriptures: Don’t be a hypocrite! In other words, make sure what you believe and how you act line up. Don’t say one thing and do another. There is something universally reviling about hypocrites. We can't stand it when we learn that models of morality have been leading secret, immoral lives. We are upset when those whom we respect are revealed to be indecent frauds. Sadly we have seen this principle in action over and over again in our civil and religious leaders.
We agree with the Lord in his attack on the hypocrites. But then Jesus turns the focus of his teaching towards us. He doesn’t just lead us in a round of mob justice to condemn all those bad people in the world; Jesus forces each of us to ask, "Am I a hypocrite? What thoughts, words, and actions are coming out of me? What is my heart producing?" We need to be concerned with fighting against any evil that might be lurking inside us. We can easily see the wrong in others, but if we are to avoid being hypocrites ourselves, we need to control our thoughts. We need to protect ourselves against those things which turn something wrong into “it’s ok if I do it!”. We need to be wholesome. We need to be pure of heart. We need to be gentle, strong, and merciful.
Because the human reaction to hypocrisy is so visceral, it is possible that when we see it in ourselves, when we are the hypocrites, we give in to self-hatred. But God doesn’t want us hating ourselves. We must replace self-hatred with His Divine Love. We belong to God. He is among us and, through the grace of our baptism, He is within us. His gift of grace will help us win the battle for our souls. And this is the great irony: the thing God can’t stand the most (hypocrisy) seems at first glance, very similar to the thing He loves above all else! God loves sinners so much he didn’t even spare His Son to save them. So what is the difference between a hypocrite and a sinner? One key thing. The sinner avoids becoming a hypocrite by honest reflection on his or her life. The difference is that the sinner says, “God, I am sorry. I have done wrong. I need your help. I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else anymore. I want to do good things but I am weak. I understand the sins of others because I have my own weaknesses and failures.”
One last observation. Just because the hypocritical Pharisees misused the commandments to harden their hearts doesn’t mean God threw away the Law! Jesus does not dismiss the commandments or the notion of sin; he condemns using it to afflict, judge, or hurt others. Jesus exposes the Pharisees for honoring God with lip-service while their hearts are far from him. But the problem is with them, not the moral code. The commandments and teachings of right and wrong come from God and cannot change or be dismissed, even when its teachers lead horrible lives. Perhaps the saddest result of hypocrisy in Christians is that it makes it easier for others to dismiss the saving truths which bring life. That is the ultimate scandal of hypocrisy: the splendor of Divine truth, found in God’s laws and commandments is obscured by human pride and weakness.
Today it would be good for each of us to pray for the grace to humbly and honestly reflect on our life and actions. Where might we be rotten potatoes?! Is what comes out of us in the form of thoughts, words, and actions consistent with what we profess and believe as followers of Christ? Is there anything we are doing or not doing that could lead someone to doubt the truth of Jesus Christ? Are we willing to look first at our own sins and weaknesses rather than brushing over them to point out the faults of others? Do we think, consciously or not, that we are better than others, which is a sure sign we need God’s help to root out hypocrisy in ourselves.
The Good News is that God’s love is steadfast! He will never stop loving sinners who confess their need for Him and he is not afraid of any spiritual rot that is within us! So let’s be set free from any pride or self-righteousness that might afflict us. Let’s openly admit to God that we are weak and sinful and in need of His care. Make use of the sacrament of confession which he gave us as a way of returning to him and receiving his gifts of healing and strength. Pray for all who wander in darkness and for anyone who may have been hurt by our sins and hypocrisy. In time, with God’s grace, we can become the person described by the psalmist, ‘who does justice and who will live in the presence of the Lord’!
