NB: This reflection was given on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary

Introduction

Today, we celebrate a great feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and as with all of her feast days, I find myself reflecting on the integrity of the Christian life—how Christianity is not something we can neatly compartmentalize but rather must encompass every aspect of who we are. This is something that is easy for us to forget. We know, of course, that our faith is not something we put on just for Sundays and then set aside for the rest of the week, but it can still be easy to lose sight of how much Christ seeks to transform us, how much he desires to touch and sanctify every single part of our lives.

Tonight, I would like to reflect on the topic of hypocrisy, particularly the various ways in which it tends to manifest. Whenever I hear the word hypocrisy, what often comes to mind, perhaps due to the time and place of my upbringing in Alabama, is televangelists. These were men who promoted the Gospel on television but frequently targeted particular sins with great fervor. Over the years, how many of them did we see fall from grace, as it was revealed that the very sins they condemned so passionately were the ones they themselves committed in secret—and they were inevitably caught.