Your religion is what you do when the sermon is over.

Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. - Mother Teresa

Gospel Text: (LK 12:1-7)
At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.

“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows.”

In a world where so many moral standards have broken down, still nobody wants to be a hypocrite. Some people use this accusation against Catholics in an attempt to silence them when they say uncomfortable things. But we should not be intimidated because there is a huge misunderstanding about the nature of hypocrisy.

I will say this and repeat it: Hypocrisy consists not in failing to practice what we preach, but in not believing what we preach.

I might fail to live up to my beliefs all day long, but still hold on to them as I strive to live up to them. That is not hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a cynical pretense of being a good person while disregarding the morality we claim to follow. The difference is being sorry, repenting, and striving forward. The hypocrite doesn’t care.

We must listen to our consciences, but we also must be careful of taking our own moral temperatures too much because that can take our eyes off Jesus and place them on ourselves. Only He can make us holy. If we worry too much about appearing to be a "Godly" person that can trip us up if we start thinking of our own image, or how we appear to others. If we maintain our intimacy and closeness to Jesus, He will change our hearts and the rest will take care of itself.