Homily for Friday 19th October 2018
_“When so many thousands of the multitude had gathered together that they trod upon one another, he began to say to his disciples first, ‘Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.’” *Luke 12:1*_
There is the story of a certain saint who was once tempted by an evil woman of easy virtue. After trying as hard as she could to lure him, the saint surprisingly agreed to what she was asking for but asked her to follow him for a walk to a certain secret place where he would be most comfortable. She was full of delight and agreed to follow him. He went through many streets and each time she kept asking: “is this the place?” With a smile on his face, he would say: “not yet.”
Finally, they came to a very busy market and the saint took her hand into the very centre where there was such a large crowd of people each trying to struggle for space to move. The saint then said to her: “okay lady, now I am ready.” She immediately took to her heels running as fast as she could.
Some time ago, some scientists conducted an experiment on human sincerity. Participants were asked to go into a room and try to play a certain game and after which they would tell the judges their exact scores. They were not told they were being watched through hidden cameras installed all over the game room. Virtually all of them failed to give their true scores. They were then asked to go to another room with visible cameras to play the same game. This time, they gave exact reports of their scores, some even underrated their scores.
The question I have always pondered on is why we humans tend to be at our best ONLY when we are aware of people watching us. And what makes us believe anything and everything is okay the moment we are conscious of privacy. Indeed, why is it even possible that the seemingly holiest persons in the time of Jesus could be accused of hypocrisy? What makes us give in to temptations when we know such and such is totally secret and yet, we become strong enough to look into satan’s eye in public and say “Get behind me.”
The answer to these questions is simple: WE VALUE OUR SELF-WORTH MORE THAN WE FEAR GOD. In our scale of preference, good name, social integrity, respect of others, etc. rank higher than our love for God. The reason why we are too scared to commit a sin in public is not really because we believe such is an offence against God, it is mainly because we care about what people think of us. That is why we would most gladly do it so long as no one will know or so long as it won’t give us a negative image before the world. Indeed, hypocrisy comes naturally to us. It is not learned and it takes real effort on our part to fight against it.
The key to fighting hypocrisy is to use fear to our advantage. If we are to summarize the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage in three sentences, it would read:
1. “Fear what people would think because nothing stays hidden or covered up forever”
2. “Fear God more because even if people think badly of you, the best they would do is to kill you but God can do more than merely killing you, God can also cast you into hell afterwards.”
3. “You are actually precious to God, even the hairs on your head are numbered, just know that God is always watching you with his special CCTV cameras 24/7.”
Even if the fear of God is not too strong in you, take advantage of your fear of people and allow this fear to strengthen your resolve to do what is right whenever you are faced with temptation. By the way, since the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, it means one who no longer fears God but fears public opinion is not that wise.
Know that every secret has its expiry date and “delete” doesn’t really delete anything. Know that even with all evidence destroyed, the evidence of God printed in your conscience cannot be destroyed. All the waters in the world cannot wash clean a hand stained with blood. (Recall Shakespeare’s novel). You are not what you say you are, you are what you do! Be true to yourself and to God.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, I repent of my past sins and hidden faults, I resolve from today to please you by what I do especially in secret. Amen.
*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Friday of the 28th week in Ordinary Time. Bible Study: Ephesians 1:11-14, Psalm 33:1-13 and Luke 12:1-7).*
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