2 Thess 3:6-10, 16-18 / Matthew 23:27-32
If there is any relationship between laziness and hypocrisy, then it could be that one leads to the other.
Laziness can be described as the tendency or inclination to avoid activity or exertion or work despite the ability to do so.
Hypocrisy can be described as the practice of claiming to have higher standards or more noble beliefs when it is not the case. In other words, it can be simply called a pretence.
In the 1st reading, we heard St. Paul urging the community to keep away from those who refuse to work or to live according to the teachings of the faith.
Those people refused to do any work because they thought that the Lord Jesus would be coming back any time so they decided to drop whatever they were doing and just sit around and wait.
So instead of working for their salvation trembling with fear, they preferred to do nothing and just keep waiting.
They may be telling others that they want to be focused on waiting for the Lord's return but in reality they may be just lazy and using faith as a pretence.
That may also be the case with the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus was addressing in the gospel. Hypocrisy is often used to cover up something else, and in this case it was the laziness to keep the discipline of the faith.
Today as the Church honours St. Monica, the mother of St. Augustine (whose feast day is tomorrow) we will remember how she prayed fervently for her son's conversion with tears and with penance, and she persevered for 30 years before she saw the fruits of her prayers.
May St. Monica pray for us that we too will work and pray fervently for our salvation and for the salvation of others. A lively faith does not have room for laziness and hypocrisy.