Wednesday of the Twenty-first Week in Ordinary Time
August 25, 2021
Daily Reading from the USCCB: Matthew 23:27-32
Matthew’s twenty-third chapter is a long denunciation of the iniquities of the scribes and Pharisees. The recurrent theme in Jesus’ censure is “hypocrites.” What’s wrong with the scribes and Pharisees is that they are hypocrites.
A hypocrite is somebody who pretends to be more virtuous than he actually is, whose actions do not correspond to the thoughts of his heart. The Pharisees’ posture of religiosity was not in accord with their selfish thoughts and intentions. There are other hypocrites too: the man who cheats in business, the gossipy woman who pretends to be kind.
To some extent each of us is a hypocrite because none of us expresses in our actions the full limitations of our hearts. To what extent am I a hypocrite?
