St. Francis's Teaching Regarding Hypocrisy
"It was winter, and he was wearing only a single habit over his holy body, and it was patched all over with coarse pieces of cloth. His guardian, who was also his companion, came by a fox hide and gave it to him, saying, 'Father, you're suffering spleen and stomach pain, so I beg you, for the love of God, to let this hide be sewn on the inside of your habit. Or if that is too much to expect, at least take a small part of the hide to cover your stomach.' But Francis answered: 'If you want me to wear this fox skin beneath my habit, then let me wear one of equal size on the outside. Sewn there, it will show others that there is another one hidden inside, too.'" --Celano, Second Life, 130
Hypocrisy in our Christian walk is never far away so we must constantly be on the lookout for it. Over the years as I've written and posted on the Web about my faith I've uncovered pockets of hypocrisy in myself. I find myself saying, "Who are you to write about this, Cathy?!" I then have to change my sermonizing to confession. Being authentic means being honest--first with yourself and God, then with others. I should think preachers and teachers of God's word are in the greatest danger of falling into hypocrisy because they are often put on pedestals on which they do not belong. In fact, we should never put a minister on a pedestal because only God should be there. We who do must count ourselves guilty along with the minister if he, in an attempt to remain on the pedestal, dabbles in hypocrisy.
"It was winter, and he was wearing only a single habit over his holy body, and it was patched all over with coarse pieces of cloth. His guardian, who was also his companion, came by a fox hide and gave it to him, saying, 'Father, you're suffering spleen and stomach pain, so I beg you, for the love of God, to let this hide be sewn on the inside of your habit. Or if that is too much to expect, at least take a small part of the hide to cover your stomach.' But Francis answered: 'If you want me to wear this fox skin beneath my habit, then let me wear one of equal size on the outside. Sewn there, it will show others that there is another one hidden inside, too.'" --Celano, Second Life, 130Hypocrisy in our Christian walk is never far away so we must constantly be on the lookout for it. Over the years as I've written and posted on the Web about my faith I've uncovered pockets of hypocrisy in myself. I find myself saying, "Who are you to write about this, Cathy?!" I then have to change my sermonizing to confession. Being authentic means being honest--first with yourself and God, then with others. I should think preachers and teachers of God's word are in the greatest danger of falling into hypocrisy because they are often put on pedestals on which they do not belong. In fact, we should never put a minister on a pedestal because only God should be there. We who do must count ourselves guilty along with the minister if he, in an attempt to remain on the pedestal, dabbles in hypocrisy.
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