Holier Than Thou

by David Lins  |  10/23/2022  |  (Being) Catholic Matters

So many of us struggle with a syndrome that seems to afflict every church, and perhaps the Catholic Church most of all.

The “holier” people become, the more they seem to become holier-than-thou. They morph into self-appointed dress code monitors, solemnity enforcers, and masters of the dirty look.

I have to be honest. I struggled with them as a child more than you can imagine.

Growing up, my family didn’t have the money to dress as nicely as most of the other parishioners. Additionally, there were seven children, so we weren’t always the quietest pew. Suffice it to say, I saw plenty of nasty glances in the early years of my faith. Jesus saw them, too.

This weekend’s Gospel starts with a bang: “Jesus addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else.” Ouch.

But instead of flaming the fire of contempt on these people, I’d like to suggest another way of looking at them: they have gotten far. In fact, many of them have conquered every sin only to trip over the final and most deadly sin: pride.

You see, when a determined person scratches and claws to overcome so much temptation and sin in their life, the evil one only has one final trick up his demonic sleeve—convincing the person of their own holiness, greatness, and superiority. “Look at how well I’m doing!” the devil whispers to them in first person. “I’ve done it. Now if only the rest of my family was like me. If only the rest of my parish was like me. If only the rest of the world was like me.”

And without realizing it, they’ve fallen.

And rather than the joy that should flow from a life hidden in Christ, his will, and his sacraments, they find themselves anything but joyful. They unintentionally find themselves driving people away from the Faith they’ve worked so hard to dive into. It is a tragic story, really.

So rather than judging them in return, pray for them. They’ve overcome more than most and they only have one more hurdle to clear. Then, they’ll really shine for Christ.

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