Do As They Say
“Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example.
For they preach but they do not practice.”Matthew 23:3
Perhaps we have all heard the famous saying, “practice what you preach.” What does that mean? It means to say one thing and do another. Or, it can also mean to set out rules and standards for others but not having them apply to yourself. In other words, this could be seen as hypocrisy or duplicity. Jesus was telling the people that the scribes and the Pharisees were indeed teaching good things and preaching important messages. But they were not putting them to practice in their own lives. So Jesus told the people to listen to what the scribes and Pharisees teach but to not imitate their actions.
Do we know such people in our lives? Maybe we even see ourselves in the scribes and the Pharisees. Do we practice what we preach? It is not enough to say the right things we need to practice them. We can see this in family life. How many times have we heard parents or elders say “Do as I say not as I do”? Only having children question why it is okay for the grownups to do something but not for them to do it. Similarly, in schools when teachers set classroom rules, expecting the students to follow them but not leading by example. This is not at all to shame parents or teachers, but rather to see how pervasive this phenomenon is. I myself have done the same — at home as an uncle or older cousin and at school as a teacher. But this also happens in the Church.
There are priests and bishops who do not practice what they preach, and perhaps we can think of a few individuals. Priests and bishops are called to be shepherds who, like the Good Shepherd, know their sheep so that their sheep might know them. You can’t simply tell the sheep to do something. You must do it too. You have to lead them, guide them, and shepherd them. We need priests and bishops who practice what they preach. We need priests and bishops who smell like their sheep. We need priests and bishops who not only lead their people, but who first and foremost lay down their lives for them. Regardless of what priests and bishops may do, they usually do preach the Good News, even if they do not live it out. So, as laypeople may we be faithful to our priests in their preaching of the Good News for we believe that they are acting in the person of Christ, but at the same time may we never be afraid to act out and live out the Good News even if our priests do not. May our examples move them to do the same.
Let us pray for our priests that they may be good shepherds who practice what they preach so that the People of God may be sanctified and led into communion with the Father. May we too do our part in preaching the Gospel in our daily lives as well as practicing it, living it out as best we can wherever we may be. For then, the glory of God will truly be seen.
