Readings:
Isaiah 1:10,16-20
Matthew 23:1-12
Reflection
They do not practice what they preach
One of the prayers from the ordination ceremony for a Deacon is the phrase “Receive the Gospel of Christ, whose herald you have become. Believe what you read, preach what you believe, and practice what you teach”. This is a significant directive, and one not restricted to deacons!
It is a standard by which we can all live. Every vowed life, every dedicated life of service can align itself with this standard.
Indeed, if we want our witness to be real and effective, it is most necessary that we hold to this commendation
Sometimes we can feel that our simple, or even sacrificial, witness is so often unnoticed. However, we do not ever know this with certainty – witness the poor widow putting in two pennies to the temple treasury, an ‘anonymous’ act that caught the attention of Jesus and became a part of the Good News for the whole world!
Nevertheless, we can be sure that blatant hypocrisy and double standards will be noticed. It is not effective to preach one thing, or to promise to help or to change and then proceed to act in a different way. Bad enough to ignore our promises, even worse to act in a way that is diametrically opposite to that which we proclaim to be a value.
Jesus saw this dynamic. He appreciated the truth of the aspiration but challenged the failure to act upon one’s own words and aspirations.
Addressing the people and his disciples, Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practice what they preach”
Surely an appropriate Lenten challenge? Let us say what we believe and practice what we say.
Fr. Denis Travers C.P. is the provincial of the Passionists of Holy Spirit Province.