If this is not hypocrisy, then, what is … By Hieromonk Savvas Hagioreites

If this is not hypocrisy, then, what is … 

Do you know what most people pretend to be these days? They pretend to be disrespectful, for respect nowadays is not trendy, whereas disrespect is. Let me tell you how: one goes to a restaurant and does not make his cross, for he says he’s embarrassed. He goes past a church and does not make his cross; he does so under his jacket. There are some who behave it like that. What is this? Isn’t it hypocrisy? It is hypocrisy. Why is this so? Is it show off to make your cross? No, it’s not. It is an act of salvation, for you bless your food. If your food is prepared with sorcery, you’ll eat the spells and also the devil inside. How will the devil go away if you don’t cross your food? They say, “we’re embarrassed for we’re being watched”. 

Or some lady happens to have a memorial service during Lent and she serves meat. What will you do? Will you eat meat or not? Some clever ones say “we shall eat it so as not to offend them”. But precisely because you eat it, you scandalize them, for they know that you’re supposed to be religious…So, they might say, she ate meat without respecting fasting, and yet she goes to church. So, she pretends to be disrespectful. That’s why I told you that we’re hypocrites, for nowadays disrespect is trendy. And if you behave the way you should , they will make fun of you. If a girl goes to University in a skirt, they make fun of her, so, she pretends that she agrees. Or if a young girl does not have a boyfriend and all her girlfriends talk to her about their boyfriends, she lies to them that she allegedly has a boyfriend, too. Isn’t it hypocrisy? Do you know what Christ said about hypocrites? Only for the hypocrites… For no one else. He said “woe” eight times, not once but eight times! Do you know what “woe” means? Alas! Only to the hypocrites did He say that. Which means that they are down at the very bottom of hell. So, our sin is not small. It is big and shall be corrected, and thus the world will change. 

What was a woman forty years ago, if she had make up on and was dressed like today? Say it. She was a common woman, she was a prostitute. What is happening today? Are all women prostitutes? No, they are not, but they pretend to be so. Unfortunately they are many, for prostitution prevails. 

And what is an out of wedlock relationship? It is prostitution and adultery. However, not all women are like that although they pretend to be so. Why do you pretend, my lady? And yet you say that you are with Christ… For she fears that she will be mocked at. So, what is she underneath? She cares for what the people will say, not for what God will say. You see? In other words, the passions reign within us, such as selfishness, vanity and the rest, avarice, lust, and all that. 

By Hieromonk Savvas Hagioreites