Yesterday I wrote about the importance of true love and relationship that we saw in the beautiful readings. Today we see a sort of switch in language, Jesus is not happy.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites. You traverse sea and land to make one convert, and when that happens you make him a child of Gehenna twice as much as yourselves.”
These words are pretty potent, but I think they display such a profound truth. Jesus spoke yesterday about the importance of relationship, true love, self gift, and the reality of the Eucharist and today He opposes those who fake a relationship.
To say that you have a relationship with God, but you are only in it for yourselves or salvation or status seems to be a grave sin to Jesus. He does not like fakers. This should show us two things.
One, it shows us that clearly Jesus meant what He said about being true food and true drink. We just heard that passage and now here Jesus is saying how much He detests people who say one thing and live another. This should give us such great faith in the Eucharist as being truly the full presence of God.
Second, it shows us that even if we struggle, even if the faith is difficult, even if we have suffering and pain, even if sometimes we cant feel God, that it is better to struggle through with hope and faith than to just give up and give an appearance of relationship. He is with us and wants a relationship with us and all we have to do is be honest and try.
A spiritual director of mine once said that the two most important aspects of prayer are honesty and consistency. We have to be honest with God about what is going on in our lives and we have to be consistent in turning to Him and giving him everything. This is no different from any relationship that we have in our lives. Marriages would not be very healthy without honesty and consistency.
We have recently seen what can happen when relationship with Christ is faked, when status and power trump love and compassion, when those who should be showing Christ to the world show the exact opposite.
We have also seen the very good priests in this world who truly act in persona Christi. We should learn from their example and direction to counteract the lies and deceit of the hypocrites who Jesus condemns.
Let us pray for our priests and for ourselves that we may never fake relationship but instead day after day grow even deeper and closer to our God. Amen.
Tommy Shultz is a Solutions Evangelist for Diocesan. In that role, he is committed to coaching parishes and dioceses on authentic and effective Catholic communication. Tommy has a heart and a flair for inspiring people to live their faith every day. He has worked in various youth ministry, adult ministry, and diocesan roles. He has been a featured speaker at retreats and events across the country. His mission and drive have been especially inspired by St. John Paul II’s teachings. Tommy is blessed to be able to learn from the numerous parishes he visits and pass that experience on in his presentations. Contact him at tshultz@diocesan.com.
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