Jesus teaches us that our faith must be honest, never fake or hypocritical. He condemns fake displays of religious feeling! Christianity is about being genuine, not just going through the motions!

 

Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 

~Matthew 9:15

We need to remember that Jesus teaches us that our faith must be honest, never fake or hypocritical. He condemns fake displays of religious feeling! Christianity is about being genuine, not just going through the motions! Today we see a lot of fakeness in religion and at church, or by people who act so holy, when they really are not. We see it at our church a lot and with priests in the past, and others. Ironically, when we were driving to church one morning, a car cut us off very aggressively, just not very nice at all, cut right in front of us, ironically, they were going to church too, as we were, we saw who it was, I think she was embarrassed as she always acts so holy in church, yet did not display that in her road rage a few minutes before getting to mass. She knew that we saw what she did, as we were behind her on the road when we got to the church parking lot. 

The Mornings With God App today said, "Christianity is about being genuine, not just going through the motions. The Jews had moved away from true spiritual worship, and as a result, they added more and more empty rituals. They might have been celebrating, but when it was time to fast, they’d put on sackcloth, show outward signs of sorrow, and act sad as if they were mourning. This led to a lack of sincerity, and often, it wasn’t a true reflection of their hearts. Jesus rejected this kind of empty ritual. Fasting represents mourning and sorrow, so to fast when you’re actually joyful is just pretending. If there’s a real reason to mourn, then it’s appropriate, but not otherwise. Jesus teaches us that our faith must be honest, never fake or hypocritical. He condemns fake displays of religious feeling." Found at:  https://www.youdevotion.com/mornings/december/21

We had a priest once at our old church who we still see today at the gym. When we went to his church, he was a great speaker, so good with homilies, and preaching the message, however, he could never put what he preached into practice. At church he would ignore us, avoid us, and completely dismiss us. We would see him at the gym too, he would have nothing to do with us whatsoever. He did not practice what he preached at all as a priest. Today we see a lot of "Pharisees" in church, they love to act so holy, so much like they follow Jesus, saying the rosary, they know all the words, yet at peace time, they cannot even look at you or give you a sign of peace or they do it in a disparaging way.  Yes, there is a lot of hypocrisy in the church today for sure. We are told when we pray to go into the inner room and pray alone with God, do not act like you are so holy or above others in front of all. Yes, all of this led to a lack of sincerity, and often, it wasn’t a true reflection of their hearts. Jesus rejected this kind of empty ritual that people have or show in public. We need to be careful of this too. We are called to follow Jesus, to reflect, forgive, imitate and love like Him! In actions, not just in words or being hypocritical in public. Did this all make you think today? What kind of Christian are you? Do you look at others and assume or judge them without even knowing them? Do you say you are Christian, but cannot turn around and give a sign of peace to all your brothers and sisters? We need to be be honest, never fake or hypocritical! Jesus wants us to be genuine!