August 27, 2025 // Memorial of Saint Monica
Read the Word // Open your Bible to today’s Gospel: Matthew 23:27-32
Reflect on the Word //
I waited for her to say something, some sort of signal that would allow me to drop my guard and offer the truth of what I actually thought. Our conversation danced over all of the pleasantries while dinner dragged on in an awkward effort to find commonality. We spoke of future trips and powerful wins and mundane drudgeries. We talked our way around just about everything that didn’t matter while missing the truth at the heart of each of us.
Authenticity can be risky. It can open you up to misguided assumptions or unfair critiques. Frequently, we dodge expressing our heartfelt beliefs in an effort to protect ourselves, often at the expense of our faith. We want to be accepted and so we adjust our outward presence to mimic what we perceive as safe. We become the hypocrites in today’s Gospel, always shapeshifting ourselves to fit into a perfectly packaged mold with a shiny exterior, “like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men's bones and every kind of filth” (Matthew 25:27).
The problem that we so often miss is that while we’re trying to find the right mold in exchange for the approval of the right person, we overlook the very unique space that God has crafted for our hearts. It is in that space that acceptance has already been given by the One Who matters most. And when we reject who He made us to be, we live in lies instead of the truth. When we rely on ourselves and who we want to be, we are dead inside and not alive in Him.
There is no reason to hide your heart, dear sister. So when you feel the need to craft a “whitewashed tomb” for yourself in order to be accepted, remember that acceptance has already been granted to you. And it is there that true authenticity can flourish.
Relate to the Lord // Where have you been tempted to create a facade? Tell the Lord about your desire to live more authentically.
Brittany Calavitta is an enthusiastic advocate for a good book, strong coffee, and a hopeful heart. After battling years of infertility, she and her husband welcomed their first child on September 11, 2016. While balancing time between life with a preschooler and a husband who travels for ministry, Brittany dances professionally all over Southern California where her family currently resides. She was a contributing author to Here Too: Where We Find God and Made New: 52 Devotions for Catholic Women. Find out more about her here.
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