Today Jesus has stern words for the Pharisees. The tombs honour the prophets but Jesus reminds these leaders of the painful truth that it was their own ancestors who killed these innocent prophets.

Legal experts interpret the law in such a way that the common person cannot live it out. Even worse, the experts themselves do not keep the law. Jesus points out their hypocrisy.

Today the Church celebrates St. Ignatius of Antioch, an Apostolic Father, bishop and martyr. St. Ignatius was not a hypocrite.

When faced with persecution for his faith, he did not renounce it, but rather persevered in it. His writings reveal that Ignatius longed for martyrdom. Ignatius believed that his death would unite him even more deeply with Christ - he said that in the arena he would be crushed in the teeth of the lion like wheat that is crushed to become the Eucharistic Body of Christ. His courageous witness to Jesus encouraged other Christians to keep the faith.

The opposite of hypocrisy is a consistent witness to the love of Christ. Whether others support us or oppose us, we are called to bravely keep living out the faith.