Pretension Vs. Spontaneity!

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

Rom 2:1-11; Lk 11:42-46

Today’s Gospel highlights the danger of religious hypocrisy. 

Jesus delivers woe messages against the Pharisees, who were diligent about insignificant things while showing scant regard for the law of God, which called them to justice, love, and mercy.

Religious hypocrisy is dangerous because it dares to wear a mask before God. When spiritual practices mean pretension, we are only living a lie in the name of worshiping God. That is what the Pharisees were known to do, and that is what Jesus condemns. 

The Pharisees were good at observing the external forms of religion like prayer, ritual, and charity, while overlooking the internal transformation they were meant for. They led a self-serving life and possessed hearts that were void of love. 

They put on an external show in the name of piety and were content with the applause from people. However, what their lives did not prioritize was intimacy with God. True spirituality is tied to the inner forum, only manifesting such transformation outwardly. 

While the Pharisaic life was characteristic of religious hypocrisy, St. Teresa of Avila, whose feast we celebrate today, was a saint without hypocrisy, and the Carmelite reformer and mystic was known for her spontaneity and honesty in her relationship with God.

St. Teresa of Avila was known for her wit and boldness. It is said that once when St. Teresa was travelling to one of her convents, she was knocked off her donkey and fell into the mud, injuring her leg. ‘Lord,’ she said, ‘you couldn’t have picked a worse time for this to happen. Why would you let this happen?’ And the response in prayer that she heard was, ‘That is how I treat my friends.’ Teresa immediately answered, ‘And that is why you have so few of them!’

This anecdote from St. Teresa’s life teaches that true spirituality is about opening oneself to God in trust and confidence. Spiritual maturity comes when our relationship with God is marked by transparency and frankness. 

The best form of prayer is the offering up of a real self instead of a pretentious one.

Let us pray that we may relate with God in all spontaneity and frankness. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar