God’s image is without any deceit. He saw us “being formed in our mother’s womb,” has been with us every moment of our lives and knows every thought, word and action of our existence. We know ourselves pretty well, but unfortunately, with many good qualities exaggerated and many defects passed over it tends to make this image anything like a mirror image of who we truly are. Oftentimes we strut like actors on the stage playing a flattering part in a drama. On the other hand, through our braggadocio and exaggerations, we try to give our neighbors the look of quite a different person than who we really are. It’s amazing how condemnatory Jesus is of this hypocrisy. He compares such people with “whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of filth.” What Jesus objects to is living a lie day after day which is what such a person is doing. What Jesus wants for us is to grow into the personality that is the image that he created for us to be. There are two practices offered to us by God and the Church that can help us to be more honest in this area of our lives. The real remedy for our hypocrisy is asking forgiveness of God and of our neighbors. Well, the nightly practice of the “Examination of Conscience” sure helps to make us aware of the traces of hypocrisy that still lurk in our hearts and how much we need God’s grace and help. Jesus also gave us the “Sacrament of Reconciliation” which, when received with some regularity, will make us conscious of the ways we try to deceive our neighbors. It sure helps us to see the inconsistencies in the way we think of ourselves from the way the Lord sees us. Have you ever wondered if the unwillingness to admit one’s faults and acknowledge them in confession is not one of the reasons why a lot of people fail to receive the “Sacrament of Reconciliation” any longer? |