The theme of today’s Gospel seems to come up time and time again in different ways: ‘So you also on the outside look righteous to people but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’ It’s a message we continue to hear because it can be hard to get it from our heads to our hearts. We know what Jesus is saying that we need to live the Gospel authentically and honestly through our actions and our intentions, not through empty words or by insisting that others follow rules that we are not willing to abide by ourselves.  

 In our humanity, we can be so quick to sin and make excuses for what we have done, yet equally quick to judge the sin of others. We can also be quick to forgive ourselves and leave no room for redemption and grace for others. And so, we must be constantly reminded to look inward and to be self-reflective enough to look at our own words, actions, and heart to see if we really are living what we preach. It is important to be merciful to ourselves as well, but to do so in a way that means we learn from our hypocrisy and try to make sure that the way we appear on the outside is a true reflection of how we are living our faith on the inside. 

Take a moment today to examine our hearts, asking God to help to us follow Him authentically in all our words and deeds.  

 By Steph Jorna