In our Gospels Jesus was quick to point out the difference between sincerity and hypocrisy. He saw much hypocrisy particularly with the Scribes and Pharisees. These were the people who loved to show off that they were important and special, who stood at street corners while they prayed and who took the best seats in their synagogues. There was no heart or sincerity in what they were doing but empty meaningless ritual and doing things just because it seemed the right thing to do.

There are still hypocrites today and there are those who have no heart or sincerity in what they do. It is often false and shallow. Nothing can hide it and others quickly pick up on how false it actually is. But for many people and this is important to say, there is genuine warmth, openness and sincerity in everything they do. Despite sometimes difficult challenges, there is a genuine commitment to doing ones best.

In terms of faith matters there is still a genuine openness in finding and connecting to what gives meaning and fulfillment in our lives. People still pray and thankfully much of it is open, honest and far from hypocritical. Young people certainly fall into this category. They have the added benefit of not carrying any negative baggage that so many have carried in recent decades. For many years people were told “You must”, “You have to” and “If you don’t”. Today there is such freedom with young people and their outlook is “I can”, “I’ll try” and “I’ll give it a go.” What is our outlook this week?