Pope: hypocrisy destroys communities and hurts the
Church
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday
urged Christians to be truthful, warning them against the temptations of
hypocrisy and flattery. His words came during the homily at morning Mass at the Casa
Santa Marta.
Hypocrisy – Pope Francis said – is not the language of
Jesus, nor is it the language of Christians, in fact, he said, “the hypocrite
is capable of destroying a community”.
The Pope explained that Jesus often uses the adjective
“hypocrite” to describe the doctors of the law, because, as the etymology of
the word illustrates, they claim to have higher standards or more noble beliefs
than is the case, they proffer their opinions and issue judgements but in
reality they are false.
And reflecting on the Gospel reading of the day, the Pope
said "The hypocrite always uses language to flatter” just as some
Pharisees and Herodians who tried to ensnare Jesus in his speech.
“Hypocrites – Francis said – always begin with adulation,
“exaggerating the truth, feeding into one’s vanity" and he recalled the
case of a priest he met a long time ago whom, he said, “drank-up all the
flattery; that, he said, was his weakness”.
Jesus makes us see reality which is the opposite of
hypocrisy and ideology
Flattery, the Pope said, is triggered by “bad intentions” as
in the case of the doctors of the law in today’s liturgical reading. They put
Jesus to the test, flattering him first and then asking him a question with the
intention of making him fall into the wrong: “Is it lawful to pay the census
tax to Caesar or not?”
"The hypocrite, Francis said, is two-faced, but
Jesus knew their hypocrisy and said: ‘Why are you testing me? Bring me a
denarius to look at.’ Jesus always responds to hypocrites and ideologists
with reality: ‘this is the reality; everything else is either hypocrisy or
ideology’. In this case he said: ‘bring me a coin’, and he answered with the
wisdom of the Lord: ‘Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar – the reality was
that the coin carried the image of Caesar - and to God what belongs to God’.”
The third aspect, the Pope continued “is that the language
of hypocrisy is the language of deceit, it is the same language the serpent
used with Eve.”
It begins with flattery, he said, and ends up destroying
people: “it tears to pieces the personality and the soul of a person. It
destroys communities”.
Hypocrisy destroys communities and hurts the Church
"Hypocrisy is so bad for the Church” the Pope said with
a warning to all those Christians who fall into this sinful and destructful
attitude.
"The hypocrite is capable of destroying a community.
While speaking gently, he ruinously judges a person. He is a killer” he said.
Pope Francis concluded exhorting the faithful to remember
that the only way to respond to flattery is with truth; the only way to respond
to ideology is with reality.
“Let us ask the Lord to guard us from this vice, to help us
be truthful, and if this is not possible to keep silent – but never to be a
hypocrite” he said.
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