Memorial of Saint Scholastica, Virgin

Lectionary: 330

"Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders
but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?" 
He responded,
"Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites,

as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
In vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.

The Gospels and Saint Paul often describe the devotion of the Pharisees as hypocritical lip service. They are roundly condemned for making the appearance of piety while their hearts, hidden to themselves but transparent to everyone else, are like whitened sepulchers.

The faithful of our time don't have to search very far to recognize the same hypocrisy today. It seems the entire world has lost its senses and ardently believes that appearances are the only reality; and there is nothing behind the fakery. As Archibald MacLeish suggested in his famous poem:

The End Of The World

Quite unexpectedly, as Vasserot

The armless ambidextrian was lighting

A match between his great and second toe,

And Ralph the lion was engaged in biting

The neck of Madame Sossman while the drum

Pointed, and Teeny was about to cough

In waltz-time swinging Jocko by the thumb

Quite unexpectedly the top blew off:

And there, there overhead, there, there hung over

Those thousands of white faces, those dazed eyes,

There in the starless dark, the poise, the hover,

There with vast wings across the cancelled skies,

There in the sudden blackness the black pall

Of nothing, nothing, nothing — nothing at all. 

MacLeish described the world as a circus of vulgar entertainment with its dazzled audience. When a real catastrophe happens and The End falls upon the show, there is nothing. No judgment. No appearance of God, or His Kingdom; of justice, mercy, or compassion. 

In fact, many people believe they live in such a world. They expect nothing and hope for nothing. If they want anything, it's power. But only a few have power, and those few see no reason to apply justice or mercy in their pursuit of more power. Power is its only purpose and aim, and desire its only motive. 

Living in such a world where, it seems, everyone believes in nothing, it's easy to suppose that every demonstration of kindness, mercy, or devotion is hypocritical. Even those who profess a creed suspect everyone else of hypocrisy. 

For instance. I went with Catholic friends to a rather sober Protestant service one Sunday. Familiar as I was with Black Catholic celebrations in my Louisiana congregation, I was not surprised by the formalism of this staid white church. But my friends, hearing a different style of singing and preaching, thought the entire program was phony. I had to remind them that we live in a multicultural world where people can express themselves quite differently. 

We must allow the Lord to judge, and withhold our own critical impulses. There are many good people doing much good in a world where appearances only seem to matter. What does matter is the Kingdom of God. His Mighty Works are appearing all around us for those with eyes to see.