As I read the gospel, the word that caught my attention most of all was that of hypocrisy. Jesus warns his listeners of the danger of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. I prefer not to dwell on such an ugly term as hypocrisy, but I feel that the term is very relevant to those of us who wish to follow the path that Christ has paved. The term hypocrisy implies that there is an inconsistency between what one professes or believes, and the actions or behavior of a person. For those of us that intend to follow the example and life of Jesus, this inconsistency can become a constant problem, simply because the bar is set so high. It’s not easy trying to exemplify the values of generosity, compassion, piety, and moral discernment. The reading from Ephesians refers to those “who have heard the word of truth”. Often times in my own life the struggle lies not in learning or knowing truth, but in having the strength to live out the truth that I do know.

As a student at a university, I often find the gap between my values and actions growing. It can be tempting as a student living on my own to slip into a selfish mindset, in which everything revolves around my own welfare, my own future, and my own comfort. As our Christian values profess, the gospel reading affirms, and the Ignatian value of Magis challenges us, we must always strive for greater harmony between our values and actions. Recently I have tried to lessen this disconnect by taking to heart the idea of “creative generosity” that a professor told me about. “Creative generosity” is the ability to have flexibility in one’s life that enables you to readily respond in service to the needs and suffering of other humans. Ideas such as this remind us that a commitment of faith is not a one time occurrence, but something that we need to reaffirm frequently if not daily. As witnesses to the life of Christ we are all blessed with great truth. We are challenged however, to not only witness and recognize truth, but to live out truth and share it with others through our own actions.