“A hypocrite is afraid of the truth. It is better to pretend rather than be yourself. It is like putting makeup on the soul, like putting makeup on your behavior, putting makeup on how to proceed: this is not the truth.”

(Pope Francis)

There is a turn of phrase that says: “Actions speak louder than words.” There is truth in this – and in Christianity, words and deeds often need to go hand in hand. You cannot profess that you are a good Catholic, go to Mass, to only leave church and go rob the corner store. However, there is a fine line between being a witness to the faith by actions and showing piety while sinning in actions or bringing attention to oneself when doing a good deed for the sake of seeming pious and holy. Both serve different purposes. The former is the way of heaven while the latter two are the way of earth. This feigning of piety and holiness is hypocrisy, which is a sin if it is done in malice rather than weakness. New Advent (Catholic Encyclopedia) tells us that “essentially its malice is identical with that of lying…there is discordance between what a man has in his mind and the simultaneous manifestation of himself.” (https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07610a.htm)
St. Gregory writes in Moralia (The Books of Morals), “hypocrites, who, while they simulate the conduct of the good, possess a resemblance of a holy appearance, but have no reality of holy conduct.” (Moral. viiii, 11) He continues by saying, “while they are ever seeking their own, in everything they do, they are not softened by any compassion of charity, for the feelings of their neighbor.” (Moral. xii, 17) The Bible is full of instances of people patting themselves on the back, and announcing how wonderful they were for doing some deed in hopes to look wonderful to their fellow man without doing any service to them. I’m sure we know people who are like that in our lives. 

Part of this is human nature. We like recognition for things. When we did all the work for a group project in school, we instinctively wanted to tell the teacher. We would say it’s “not fair” that the others got the same grade as you did when they didn’t do the same amount of work. In the workplace, we have all met that one person who runs to the boss to tell them information or try to take credit for something that was a group effort. It superficially makes that person feel good, but it is often at the expense of others. It’s selfish. If it does not help others, it helps only you. Turn the tables, and those same people do not want such things happening to them. They say things like, “how dare they do that to me! It’s so rude!” It’s hypocritical.

Did you know that the word hypocrite has Greek roots, meaning “actor”? Merriram-Webster online states, “The word hypocrite ultimately came into English from the Greek word hypokrites, which means ‘an actor’ or ‘a stage player.’ The Greek word itself is a compound noun: it’s made up of two Greek words that literally translate as ‘an interpreter from underneath.’ That bizarre compound makes more sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theater wore large masks to mark which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story from underneath their masks. The Greek word took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. This sense was taken into medieval French and then into English, where it showed up with its earlier spelling, ypocrite, in 13th-century religious texts to refer to someone who pretends to be morally good or pious in order to deceive others.” (merriam-webster.com) Although it took a few more years for the ‘h’ to return to the beginning of the word and for ‘hypocrite’ to have the general meaning it does now, it’s interesting that the present-day meaning isn’t too far off from its original one. Think of someone that you would consider a hypocrite. Do they not act and interpret one way but, underneath, are a totally different way?

Lent is a great time to discuss hypocrisy. It is a season where we are asked to pull off our outer, earthly garments, our masks, and open our hearts and minds to Christ, reminding ourselves that we are sinful but that God loves us and we need to live in a way that is worthy of that love, even when it is uncomfortable. Every Ash Wednesday, we hear the same Gospel reading – Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18. This section we hear is part of the famous “Sermon on the Mount”, where Christ is speaking directly to people, with examples and parables, and not in a general sense. He has a large crowd in front of Him and takes the time to preach and teach us HOW to live. This section from that sermon that we hear on Ash Wednesday warns us against doing good in order to be seen. Within it, Christ uses the word ‘hypocrites’ three times. 

“When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.” (Mt 6:2)

“When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them.” (Mt 6:5)

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.” (Mt 6:16)

This Gospel gives us the origin of the lenten theme of alms, prayer, and fasting. But within, the message is far more than just “do these three things, especially during the season of Lent”. Jesus tells us that when we give alms, we need to do so without the world knowing we’re doing it. When we pray, we should do so quietly and piously because the Father already knows what’s in our hearts. When we fast, we need to accept it as the sacrifice it is, following the rules, so that the Father is the only one who knows. The purpose, the message that Jesus wants us to understand is that the world does not need to know you’re a wonderful person, just God. God already knows and we cannot hide our sins, misdoings, good deeds, etc from Him. Honestly, people who are good will be seen as good by those around him or her. It will quietly shine from us.

Think of our hypocrite friends…they boast, they praise themselves, and they yell the loudest to make sure everyone notices how great they are. However, it has been said that those who are the loudest in the room have the most to hide. Those hypocrites that Christ refers to walk amongst us today just as they did in His time. The warning of this section of the Sermon on the Mount is as much for the people Christ talks about as it was for those sitting in front of Him and to us. The difference is that, we, as His disciples, are willing to listen and try to be who we need to be to get into heaven. Those who He preaches against are deaf to the message. Their hearts are so hard that they cannot open them to Christ and His ways. They also cannot accept that they are not these perfect specimens. They do not want to admit that they are sinners and equal to everyone they meet. That pretentious mindset is power-hungry, selfish, and superficial. In 2021, Pope Francis spoke about hypocrisy within the Church, saying, “A hypocrite is afraid of the truth. It is better to pretend rather than be yourself. It is like putting makeup on the soul, like putting makeup on your behavior, putting makeup on how to proceed: this is not the truth.” God is love. God is justice. God is compassion. God is truth. We must live better to get to where we want to go. To be a hypocrite, to loudly boast about our good deeds while hiding that we are a sinner, is not going to get us to heaven. We can be forgiven if we are truly repentant, but those who are hypocrites, who are actors, only feign repentance and goodness when it is necessary to get some desired result to make them feel better about themselves. As the psalm on Ash Wednesday has us repeating – “Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.” (Ps. 51:3a)

As usual, Jesus is very good about throwing in a zinger to make us truly stop and think about what He said and how we act. This Ash Wednesday Gospel reading ends with – “your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.” (Mt 6:18) Here Jesus reminds us that, although on this earth we may hide those skeletons in the closet, being snobbish and making others feel less than, what is hidden in the recesses of our hearts and minds is NOT hidden from God. In the end, when we die and our soul leaves this earthly body, we will be judged, but not on the size of our bank account or the kind of car we drove. We will be judged on how we treated others – were we compassionate? Were we honest? Did we love our neighbor? Did we follow the commandments? Did we repent and try to live a worthy life? Deceitfulness, hypocrisy are not traits of the saints and they cannot be our traits on this earth to get to heaven. We need to strip away all actions that are contrary to Christ and then be fed from the nourishment that Christ has given us – in the Word and in the Eucharist and other sacraments. “Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander; like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk so that through it you may grow into salvation, for you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:1-3) That is why we come to Mass – to be fed and nourished. These things should spill over into our lives outside of the church building, helping us to be who we have been called to be by Christ.