Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Today I want to speak about something simple, yet searching: truth. God is truth. Christ is the Truth who became flesh. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. And yet, how often we find ourselves struggling with lies—not just the ones we speak, but the ones we live.
Imagine a preacher, passionately calling people not to lie. But after he finishes, he sends his trainees—his students—into the crowd. They pretend to be ordinary hearers, just like everyone else, moved by the message. But they aren’t. They were part of the plan. They were sent to steer the conversation, to influence, while pretending to be just another listener.
Now ask yourself: what will people remember more—the message not to lie, or the experience of being subtly manipulated by people pretending to be what they are not?
That is the danger of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a lie acted out. It’s a performance. It says something about us that no amount of preaching can erase. It undermines the truth we claim to proclaim.
Scripture tells us that no liar will inherit the kingdom of heaven (cf. Revelation 21:8). But Scripture also warns us again and again against hypocrisy. Jesus reserved some of His strongest words for the hypocrites—the ones who honored God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him.
Hypocrisy is not just a moral failing. It is spiritual self-deception. It masquerades as holiness while denying the very Spirit of truth. It’s a contradiction of the Gospel.
We know that truth is not just a doctrine, it is a Person—Jesus Christ. And to follow Him is not just to say what is true, but to become true. To live transparently before God and neighbor. To be integrated—our hearts, our speech, our actions all in harmony.
Brothers and sisters, if we have received Christ crucified for us, then let us also receive the Spirit He sends to us—the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of sin, but also purifies our hearts.
Let us ask the Spirit to cleanse us not only from lying tongues, but from the inner impulse to pretend, to perform, to act like something we are not.
Neither lies nor hypocrisy are found in the heart of God. If we are to be conformed to Christ, then let us let His nature reshape our own.
Let us hear the Gospel not only with our ears, but in our hearts. And let that Gospel teach us God’s ways, His nature—truth, sincerity, love without pretense.
Then, and only then, can we live the Gospel—not just speak it. Then our lives will become sermons in themselves, sacraments of truth in a world that is tired of lies.
May the Lord give us grace to be what we say, to live what we believe, and to reflect in our lives the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Amen.
