Pope Francis said in his
homily at Casa Santa Marta Tuesday that Christians should never
fall into hypocrisy, which was "the language of the Devil".
"A Christian who doesn't know how accuse himself is not a
good Christian," the pope told the morning Mass in the Vatican
hostel where he lives.
Pope said Christians "should learn to point the finger at
yourself, to be freed of hypocrisy."
Reflecting on the reading at the daily Mass, Francis says
that hypocrisy kills, and that learning to accuse ourselves and
to open up to the Lord can cure us of it.
In his homily at Mass on Tuesday, Pope Francis says that
Jesus does not tolerate hypocrisy. "We must be cured of
hypocrisy," he said, "and the medicine is knowing how to point
the finger at ourselves before God", since whoever is unable to
do so is "not a good Christian".
In the Gospel reading, Jesus is invited to lunch by a
Pharisee and is highly criticised by the master of the house
because he does not perform ritual ablution before sitting at
the table to eat.
Pope Francis explains that this behavior is not tolerated and
is hypocritical because the Pharisees invited Jesus to lunch "to
judge him, not to befriend him". This is exactly what hypocrisy
is, he says, "appearing one way but acting in another".
Jesus often calls hypocritical Pharisees "whitened
sepulchers". This is not an insult, says the Pope, "it is the
truth". He goes on to explain that "a hypocritical attitude
stems from the great liar, the devil". The Pope says the devil
is the "great hypocrite", adding that all other hypocrites are
his "heirs".
Jesus, continues the Pope, likes to "unmask" hypocrites who
use the devil's language, as he knows that this is the attitude
that will lead to his death.
Pope Francis goes on to say that anyone who may think "this
form of hypocrisy does not exist" is mistaken. Though it is not
"normal", he says, it is "common" to "appear in one way but be
another". An example of this, says the Pope, is in the fight for
power. Jealousy makes you act in a certain way, with poison
within, poison to kill, he says, because hypocrisy "always
kills".
The cure for this hypocrisy, continues the Pope, is in
learning to "point the finger at ourselves. We must open up
before God and release what we have inside us. This spiritual
exercise, he says, is not common, "but we must try to do it". We
must see the hypocrisy and evil that we have in our heart,
because the devil does sow evil. But whoever is unable to point
the finger at themselves, is "not a good Christian", he says.
Concluding his homily, Pope Francis recalls Peter's prayer in
which he tells the Lord "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,
O Lord", reminding the faithful of the importance of
acknowledging our wrongs.
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