You have heard the phrase so many times in many different forms . . ."Talk the talk and Walk the walk" . . . "Practice what you Preach" . . . . Jesus tells His followers today that when it comes to the Pharisees, "Do as they say not as they do." There is truth in the law, but the way it is lived out by the Pharisees, they fall way short of practicing what they preach and are basically hypocrites. But to some degree aren't we all? Have you ever met a perfect Catholic? Cause gosh darn, I would love to me him/her and probably recommend they write a book. SO many people leave the Church because they have unfortunately met or witnessed or talked to someone who was a hypocrite. How many times do we look to others for an example of how to live our faith, and are incredibly disappointed by something they say or do . . . maybe even to a point to question our faith?
Then the question needs to be asked how much are we leaning on others to feel secure on our faith? How much are we leaning on Christ? How then are we really living our our faith? We turn to others to learn how to live it out? Or do we turn to the Word, seek the Lord in adoration, practice the sacraments as regularly as possible . . . truly live out and seek the truth to know it, experience it, and live it for ourselves?!
Looking up to human beings, even saints, will only take us so far . . . humans are human. God does not want us to live a life of constant comparison with others, but on imitation of Christ alone.
I am far from perfect. I try to live my life to the standard of Christ and to no one else, but that is really hard. And Heaven forbid if someone looked to me as some great example of Christian holiness; that would be a very disappointing endeavor. I try to be real, I try to be honest, but in a world where we can easily project on to people a life that is perfect, dreamy and put together, portraying the real mess of life isn't easy and has to be intentional . . . it's humbling. It is important that in this world full of human beings, we do not lose what truly makes us beautiful . . . our humanity.
The crazy, dirty, disorganized, chaotic, yelling, screaming, jumping, dancing, hilarious, bad hair days, exercise pants all day long, have not showered, absent-minded, breakfast for dinner, you did what? kind of things that make us who we are. Human. Imperfect. Beautiful.
If we lean on God's grace and mercy and Christ's example of how to live the truth, we are golden. Thank you, God!
Cassie Kent is a wife, mom to two kiddos, loves to get a little crafty and even throws a monthly party celebrating the beauty of creativity. You can find out more about her here.