In his morning homily at Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis spoke about the dangers of hypocrisy and the negative role a hypocrite has on society.
POPE FRANCIS
'The hypocrite is capable of killing a community; speaking sweetly, yet brutally judging a person. A hypocrite is a killer. Remember this: He starts with flattery, but only responds with reality. Do not give me excuses, this is the reality, just like ideology, this is reality. In the end, it is the same language as the devil, who sows that twisted language in the community to destroy it. Let us ask the Lord to guide us not to fall into this hypocritical vice, not to fill up our minds with bad intentions.â?
The pope said a short prayer to prevent one from falling into this trap, 'Lord, I pray I am never hypocritical, that I know to say the truth and if I cannot say it, to stay quiet.â?
SUMMARY OF POPE'S HOMILY IN ENG
Source: Vatican Radio
'Hypocrisy is not the language of Jesus, nor is it the language of Christians. In fact, the hypocrite is capable of destroying a community.â?
'The hypocrite always uses language to flatter. Hypocrites always begin with adulation, exaggerating the truth, feeding into oneâ??s vanity. The hypocrite is two-faced, but Jesus knew their hypocrisy and said: â??Why are you testing me? Bring me a denarius to look at.â?? Jesus always responds to hypocrites and ideologists with reality: â??this is the reality; everything else is either hypocrisy or ideologyâ??. In this case he said: â??bring me a coinâ??, and he answered with the wisdom of the Lord: â??Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar â?? the reality was that the coin carried the image of Caesar - and to God what belongs to God.â?
'The language of hypocrisy is the language of deceit, it is the same language the serpent used with Eve. It tears to pieces the personality and the soul of a person. It destroys communities.â?
'Hypocrisy is so bad for the Church. The hypocrite is capable of destroying a community. While speaking gently, he ruinously judges a person. He is a killer.â?
'Let us ask the Lord to guard us from this vice, to help us be truthful, and if this is not possible to keep silent â?? but never to be a hypocrite.â?