We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Hypocrisy
FREE Catholic Classes
(Greek hypo , under, and krinesthai , to contend — hence adequately "to answer" on the stage, "to play a part", "to feign or pretend".)
Hypocrisy is the pretension to qualities which one does not possess, or, more cognately to the scope of this article, the putting forward of a false appearance of virtue or religion.
Essentially its malice is identical with that of lying ; in both cases there is discordance between what a man has in his mind and the simultaneous manifestation of himself. So far as the morality of the act goes, it is unimportant that this difference between the interior and the exterior be set out in words, as happens in formal lies, or be acted out in one's demeanour, as is true of simulation. It is deserving of notice that the mere concealment of one's own sin, unless one be interrogated by legitimate authority, is not straight-way to be accounted hypocrisy. With the purpose of measuring the degree of sinfulness attributable to this vice, St. Thomas Aquinas teaches that we must carefully differentiate its two elements: the want of goodness, and the pretence of having it. If a person be so minded as definitely to intend both things, it is of course obvious that he is guilty of grievous sin, for that is only another way of saying that a man lacks the indispensable righteousness which makes him pleasing in the sight of God. If, however, the hypocrite be occupied rather with successfully enacting the role he has assumed, then, even though he be in mortal sin at the time, it will not always follow that the act of counterfeiting is itself a mortal sin.
To determine when it is so, cognizance must be taken of the motive which prompts the sinner to adopt his hypocritical bearing. If the end he has in view be such as to be incompatible with the love of God or one's neighbour, for example, if his purpose were thus to spread abroad false doctrine more unimpededly and more thoroughly, he must clearly be considered to have commited mortal sin. When, on the other hand, his animus does not involve such opposition to the supreme law of charity, the sin is esteemed to be venial, as, for instance, when one finds satisfaction in the completeness with which he carries off his part.
The portrait of hypocrisy is drawn with appalling vividness by Christ in His denunciation of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:23-24: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you tithe mint, and anise, and cummin, and have left the weightier things of the law ; judgment, and mercy, and faith. These things you ought to have done, and not to leave those undone. Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow a camel."
Join the Movement
When you sign up below, you don't just join an email list - you're joining an entire movement for Free world class Catholic education.
-
Mysteries of the Rosary
-
St. Faustina Kowalska
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
-
Saint of the Day for Wednesday, Oct 4th, 2023
-
Popular Saints
-
St. Francis of Assisi
-
Bible
-
Female / Women Saints
-
7 Morning Prayers you need to get your day started with God
-
Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Veterans Day: Prayer for all veterans to find peace and healing
-
The Power of the Rosary: Why Praying the Rosary Matters for Catholics
-
Lasers Reveal Hidden Mayan City of Valeriana with 6,500 Structures in Mexico
-
Embracing Peace and Unity in a Time of Division
-
The 'Black Legend': Historian Argues Anti-Catholic Bias in Spanish Conquest Narratives
Daily Catholic
- Daily Readings for Tuesday, November 12, 2024
- St. Josaphat of Polotsk: Saint of the Day for Tuesday, November 12, 2024
- Wedding Anniversary Prayer: Prayer of the Day for Tuesday, November 12, 2024
- Daily Readings for Monday, November 11, 2024
- St. Martin of Tours: Saint of the Day for Monday, November 11, 2024
- Prayer for Deceased Veterans: Prayer of the Day for Monday, November 11, 2024
Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. All materials contained on this site, whether written, audible or visual are the exclusive property of Catholic Online and are protected under U.S. and International copyright laws, © Copyright 2024 Catholic Online. Any unauthorized use, without prior written consent of Catholic Online is strictly forbidden and prohibited.
Catholic Online is a Project of Your Catholic Voice Foundation, a Not-for-Profit Corporation. Your Catholic Voice Foundation has been granted a recognition of tax exemption under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax Identification Number: 81-0596847. Your gift is tax-deductible as allowed by law.