8th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year C
As we continue to discuss the requirements of discipleship, Jesus in today’s gospel reading condemned the hypocrisy of some of His disciples as a wake up call to keep them focused on their spiritual path to Him. He uses three parables to warn His disciples against hypocrisy as one of the downfalls of true discipleship.
What is hypocrisy? Hypocrisy is defined as the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In the Bible, hypocrisy is explained as the act of pretending to be something you are not, or of claiming to believe something but acting differently. It is a sin that results from pride, that is why Jesus condemns it in today’s gospel reading. In philosophy, there exists four forms of hypocrisy: (1) direct inconsistency, (2) pretense, (3) blame, and (4) complacency.
What are the remedies to these forms of hypocrisy? Since hypocrisy is a sin that results from pride and leads to the collapse of true discipleship and faithfulness in God, Jesus uses three parables to give us the remedies to hypocrisy in our lives as christians.
Jesus in the first parable in today’s gospel reading tells us that if a blind person guides another blind person, they will both fall into a pit. With this parable, Jesus is teaching us to combat the inconsistencies or pretenses in our spiritual lives, a form of hypocrisy, so as to truly live out our faith in God when we live exemplary lives that will bring others closer to God by being transparent, reliable and trustworthy.
In the next parable, Jesus calls on us to remove the wooden beam from our own eyes first before we can clearly see and remove the splinter in our brother’s eye. With this parable, Jesus condemns the act of blaming or criticizing others, another form of hypocrisy, and emphasizes the importance of not being judgmental towards others, but being loving, kind, understanding and sympathetic towards them.
Then in the last parable, Jesus informs us that a good tree does not bear rotten fruit, and that a rotten tree cannot bear good fruit. In this parable, Jesus is teaching us not to be complacent or lazy in our spiritual lives, but to be honest, hardworking, sincere and efficient in our spiritual lives so as to bear good fruit.
My dear friends in Christ, let us listen to Jesus in today’s gospel reading and try our very best to fight hypocrisy in all its forms by being transparent, reliable and trustworthy in leading others closer to God; by being loving, kind, understanding and sympathetic towards our brothers and sisters; and lastly, by being honest, sincere, hardworking and efficient in our spiritual lives so as to bear good fruit that will last.
