Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Wednesday of the eleventh week in ordinary time, June 17th, 2026

Delivered by Ariel from the Parish of Saint Albert the Great in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 2 Kings 2: 1.6-14; Rs psalm 31: 20.21.24; Matthew 6: 1-6.16-18.THE BURDEN OF HYPOCRICY The theme for our meditation today is: The burden ofHypocrisy. There is a boy of grade 3 elementary school named Prima. He has ayounger sister of 5 years old. His mother once asked Prima to look after hersister who was practicing bicycle. Prima said that he loved so much his sisterand was ready to look after her especially when she tried hard with thebicycle. However, after making promiseto his mother Prima did not look after of his sister, he instead went to playwith his friends. His sister was left alone with much difficultypracticing in which she fell several times. Then the mother reprimanded herfirst son Prima: "Prima, if you have promised to take care of your littlesister, but obviously you haven't, that's a hypocrisy. You lied to your mother,your sister, and God." Only at that time Prima for the first timeunderstood the word "hypocrisy". He then promised not anymore doingsuch thing. Today the Lord Jesus gives us a strong warning not tobe like the hypocrites. A hypocrite is a liar. They always look good and sayyes, but their actions are just the opposite. They actually bear a burden thatis not easy. Their main burden is that they always wear masks. They hide theirtrue selves, while what they show to people are their different persons. There are three points we can ponder today about theburden of hypocrisy. When we pray, we must be able to avoid the burden, whichis to receive praise and respect from others that we are prayerful people. LetGod alone know that we truly love Him. We do not need to give attention towhat people say that we pray frequently, we regularly attending the Eucharist,and we always read the scriptures etc. With regards to giving attention and helping others,let God alone know that we practice the love that He teaches us to do. We don'tneed to preach anywhere about this. The focus of our attention is the personbeing helped, because that is where love speaks and acts. The burden ofacknowledgment of others or the news announced about it are not our focus ofattention. In the case of fasting, we must also be able to avoidthe burden, namely recognition and respect from others. Let God alone know thatwe are serving Him through our acts of fasting. There is no point at all for usthat other people come to know about our fasting then making news of it,because they do not experience the meaning of fasting. We ourselves experienceit and benefit from it. If we are to avoid ourselves from the burdens ofhypocrisy, one important advice is that we should be true and sincere believersand the followers of Christ. God knows us one by one better than we ourselves,therefore, hypocrisy is only a useless burden for us.Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, help us to always livein sincerity and truth that come from you. Our Father who art in heaven ... Inthe name of the Father ...