Dear friends,

This coming week, we will be celebrating the Feast of St. Monica and her son, St Augustine of Hippo, as well as the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. These memorials, coupled with today’s readings, ought to become for us an affirmation of faith, a strengthening of hope, and a build-up of prayerful trust in the Lord. We are all people of God: As the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed, "Nations of every language...shall proclaim my glory among the nations" (Isaiah 66:18-19). In our way of life and the manner in which we interact with other people, we should be able to recognize God's goodness and His universal Love.

I recently shared with you about the place and importance of prayer: It is good to pray always and everywhere for others, ourselves, and even those who have no one praying for them. Let us learn to pray more until we can replace our bad habits with Godly habits. "Prayer is nothing but a union with God" - St. John Marie Vianney.

Now I would like to share this motto: “P.U.S.H.: Pray Until Something Happens.” St. Monica prayed for her son and her husband until something happened: St Augustine got baptized and then got ordained as a Priest and a Bishop. His writings elevated him to Doctor of the Church. (You may recall that our current Pope Leo XIV is an Augustinian following in the footsteps of St. Augustine.) Thanks to St. Monica's continuous prayers, her husband Patricius Aurelius was reported to have received baptism shortly before his death.

St. John the Baptist got beheaded for speaking against falsehood and being an outspoken preacher of the true human values. Growing up, we were taught to pray and to tell the truth. But we soon learned that, just as there were consequences for telling a lie, telling the truth sometimes produced unpleasant results. Not only might we have been made to face the music ourselves, but in being honest, we might have implicated others as well, and no one likes a tattletale. Still, no society can survive without the truth, regardless of what it might cost. Pray and speak the truth. Our Christian faith and prayer life must be inclusive and directed to God and not to please ourselves like Herod, the Pharisees, and the Scribes.

An unknown author once said, "Be careful: It is not every human being who is human". To be human is to feel the pain of others and to offer a compassionate presence. When we lose this aspect of our being, we continue to be beings but cease to be human. Jesus expressed his disgust at the hypocrisy of some scribes and Pharisees. In the name of religion, they neglected important human values like justice, mercy, and faith (Mt. 23:23). They were meticulous in the external observance of the Law, but their visible piety was a disguise. Jesus described them as people who “clean the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.” (Mt. 23:25).

When we wear nice dresses in the house of God but are indifferent to the pain of our fellow human beings, we are hypocrites. When our observance of religious practices becomes a decoy and diversionary tactic to sway observers from taking note of who we truly are, we are hypocrites. When our so-called good deeds become a curtain that covers our bad deeds, we are treading on the path of hypocrisy.

Christianity is not a call to perform like Christ but to become like Christ. We are created to know, love, and serve God. By Baptism, we become true children of God, called to a life of Holiness, Formed and sent for service. Throw away Hypocrisy. Let us be real. We have to be able to trust one another, and we have to be strong enough to accept the truth about ourselves and our society. Telling the truth demands prayer and discipline, trusting in God's grace and the goodwill of others. Be open to accepting others on their own terms for the sake of God's Kingdom.

Be safe, healthy, and happier. Jesus, I trust in you.

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