[stephenkhoo]

COMPASSION FOR OTHERS BY BEING TRUE TO OURSELVES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: 1 TH 2:9-13; MT 23:27-32
http://www.universalis.com/20140827/mass.htm

When we read the gospel readings these past few days, we cannot but be taken aback by the harsh words that Jesus reserved for the scribes and Pharisees. This does not seem to be the Jesus we know; one who is compassionate, forgiving and reassuring to sinners and the weak. So how can we explain the no-holds barred reprimands of Jesus? I believe His apparent callous words were meant to wake up His listeners, in this case, the scribes and the Pharisees. To understand the real concern of Jesus, we must understand the relationship between the two indictments against them.

Firstly, Jesus denounced them for their hypocrisy. He labeled them as “whitewashed tombs” that look beautiful and impressive on the outside but inside full of bones, corruption and filth. Yes, the Jewish religious leaders appeared good and holy people to others but their own lives were not in order. But was this the real reason that Jesus condemned them? The truth is that very few of us would be able to say that the condemnation of Jesus does not apply to us. All of us are hypocrites in some ways. We observe the rituals and attend the sacraments regularly, but we know that we are far from being what we should be. We have our skeletons hidden behind our “holier than thou” front. But we know ourselves better. Does it mean therefore that we should stop going to church and practicing our faith since we are hypocrites in some ways?

The truth is that Jesus is not so much condemning the Jewish leaders and us for our hypocrisy but for our lack of awareness of the state that we are in. The greatest sin in life is not to have sinned but to sin and yet not know about it. For when we are ignorant, there is no possibility for growth. But if we are aware of our sinfulness, then correction is at least possible. As a result of our lack of self-awareness, we become judgmental and self-righteous. This co-related sin is an even greater sin than simply being hypocritical. Hence, if Jesus reacted strongly to the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, it was because their inability to recognize their hypocrisy had led them to be judgmental of others, making them at the same time, self-righteous people, disdaining fellow sinners.

Indeed, this is what the second indictment is all about. The Jewish leaders could not see themselves as sinners. They thought that they were very holy and good people. Such blindness to their own sinfulness is demonstrated by their thinking that they would not have killed the prophets of God the way their forefathers did. Yes, they passed judgment on their ancestors and thought that they would be exonerated and different from them. In other words, like us, they were saying, “Not me! How can I? ”. But we know very well, they would be the very people who would also crucify Jesus. What is true for them is also true for us. Very often we pass remarks and judgments on others, especially priests, when they fail in their Christian virtues. We criticize and denigrate them and say, “How can?” And we say to ourselves, “I will never do such a thing.” But we must be careful because we might have to eat up our words. This is because very often, the mistakes of those whom we criticize will be the same mistakes that we will make in the future. It is an irony in life that those whom we condemn for the way they manage the affairs of the Church or their lives would be the very way we will live our lives when we are put into similar situations. It is easy to condemn others when we are not in their shoes, but when we are facing the same problems; we might not even be able to handle them half as well as they do.

But this self-righteousness would not have happened if only we recognize our own weaknesses. We need to admit to ourselves that we are hypocrites as much as others are. It is not for us to be judge over others, condemning what others are doing or not doing. More importantly, we must be judge of ourselves. It is sufficient that we try to purify our own lives instead of trying to purify the lives of others. For when we look at our sins, especially our past and hidden sins and weaknesses, we find that we are no better than others. The only difference perhaps sometimes is that their sins have been exposed whereas ours are still hidden, although there is no guarantee that they will not be made known one day. Hence, it behooves us to be humble instead and confront our own sinfulness. This is what St Paul is advising us in today’s reading. The Thessalonians were running away from their responsibilities in life by focusing on the second coming of Christ. Instead of making themselves useful, they were idle, gossiping and creating trouble. We too must not run away from our own inadequacies by focusing on others’ weaknesses. Let us deal with our own problems instead of gossiping about the failures of others.

This means that we must try to be true to ourselves as much as we can. Precisely today, we are challenged to be like St Paul. He was certainly a man who was true to himself. He did not simply follow the traditions of his fathers but he interiorized them as well. He was no hypocrite because we know that St Paul was always very much aware of his sinful past and his current conflicts in trying to live the life of Christ. But at the same time, St Paul tried to set a good example. In today’s second reading, we are told of how Paul laboured for his own bread on top of his service to the people so that he might not be a burden to his people. St Paul is one who could say with confidence, we “make ourselves an example for you to follow.” We too therefore must strive to imitate St Paul’s example of fidelity to self with the help of the grace of God.

And if we have done our best, then like St Paul, we should not feel too worried or depressed simply because we fail to be always true to ourselves and to know that now and then we live hypocritical lives. What is important is that we have tried. God only expects us to give our best and not that we need to be perfect. Even then, even in our hypocrisy, our actions and words are not totally useless. Even if we are whitewashed tombs, it does not mean that whitewashed tombs have no purpose at all. For in the time of Christ, the tombs were whitewashed so as to alert the pilgrims who were on their way to Jerusalem. In this way, they could avoid stepping on the tombs accidentally and not risk getting themselves contaminated, which would make them unclean to perform the rites at the temple. Similarly, even in our hypocrisy, there will be some people who will be inspired by our external lives even if we fail to live up entirely to what we say and believe in. And even if one day they find out the truth about us, they also can learn to avoid the mistakes that we made. So, being whitewashed tombs is not necessarily all together bad.

Truly, what is important is that we know who we are and are making attempts to cleanse the interior of our tombs. In this way, we will not fall into the greater sins of self-righteousness and being judgmental. When we try to live our lives according to the gospel and even if we have failed, people will be compassionate with us because we have been compassionate with them. So let us beware if we like to condemn our fellow Christians, especially our leaders, for their infidelities and weaknesses, because if they find out that we ourselves are also not living in the truth or behaving in an even worse manner, they will not only not forgive us but will denounce us as the real hypocrites of our time.