“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.” By the opening statement of this morning’s
Gospel reading, we know we are going to hear an earful. Jesus was upset that he always saw hypocrisy
in the scribes and Pharisees, that he saw them worrying about outward appearances
and insignificant things while ignoring what was going on in the interior,
while ignoring those important matters according to God’s law.
I think it
would be interesting to look at today’s Gospel reading in light of the saint we
celebrate today. St. Augustine, the bishop of Hippo in north
Africa, lived in the late 4th and early 5th
centuries. He is not only a doctor of
our Church, but he is one of the main theologians who influenced the
development of western Christian theology in the early Church. Augustine’s
influence is still strongly felt in our Church today. In his writings, we hear St. Augustine look
at the hypocrisy that was present in his own life, as he compares the hollow
joy he had in his reckless life before his embrace of Christianity to the true
joy he has found in his faith: “During all those years of rebellion, where was
my free will? What was the hidden, secret place from which it was summoned in a
moment, so that I might bend my neck to your easy yoke? How sweet all at once
it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to
lose! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You
drove them from me and took their place, you who are sweeter than all pleasure,
you who outshine all light, yet are hidden deeper than any secret in our
hearts, you who surpass all honor, though not in the eyes of men who see all
honor in themselves. . . . O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my
Salvation."
May the
joy of Christ that St. Augustine radiates, may the joy we may find in looking
at the hypocrisies in our own life and in trying to be faithful to living out
the Gospel in our lives, be a part of our faith and hope that we place in
Christ.
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