Today’s Scripture Readings

Woe to you! For you build the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors killed. So you are witnesses and approve of the deeds of your ancestors; for they killed them, and you build their tombs. Therefore also the Wisdom of God said, “I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute”, so that this generation may be charged with the blood of all the prophets shed since the foundation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against this generation. Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering.’

When he went outside, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile towards him and to cross-examine him about many things, lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

There is not much that irritates me more than hypocritical people, especially people in the public eye who wield great power and influence – media moguls, billionaire businesspeople and politicians. How often have they been caught out saying one thing publicly and yet doing the opposite in private. The hypocrites in today’s gospel were the scribes, Pharisees and lawyers whose ancestors had killed the prophets who had proclaimed God’s message. These scribes, Pharisees and lawyers pay simpering lip service to these slain prophets by erecting tombs and memorials in their memory.

But perhaps there is a secret, hidden hypocrite in all of us. How often do we respond to the question ‘How are you?’ with a ‘Fine, never better.’ Are there times we converse with someone in a false, polite manner when in fact we can’t stand the person? Are there occasions when we hurt inside from unresolved anger or a broken relationship and yet we go on with our lives with a mask on as if everything is ok?

Yes, it’s painful to tell someone how you really feel. Yes, it hurts to ask someone for help.

And yet God has provided so many people to support us: trusted friends, parish members, a parish priest or a mentor. We only need to take the first step. For in reaching out to God and these people, Jesus is inviting us to be our true selves: righteous within and without, true to ourselves and set free from fear and pain.