Avoiding Hypocrisy

In worship this week, we are examining the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C), where Jesus warns the disciples about the dangers of hypocrisy. He tells them a simple parable: the speck and the log. He questions them, “Why do you observe the splinter in your brother’s eye and never notice the plank in your own?”

We must be so careful to have enough self-awareness and self-control to notice and manage our own foibles before criticising or correcting others. This is especially important for us as educators and parents; how can we possibly demand high standards of our community unless we are careful to model these standards ourselves?