Dante and Virgil in hell,
Painted by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905),
Painted in 1850,
Oil on canvas
© Musée d'Orsay, Paris
Dante and Virgil in hell,
Painted by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905),
Painted in 1850,
Oil on canvas
© Musée d'Orsay, Paris
They do not practise what they preach
Matthew 23:1-12
Addressing the people and his disciples Jesus said, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees occupy the chair of Moses. You must therefore do what they tell you and listen to what they say; but do not be guided by what they do: since they do not practise what they preach. They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but will they lift a finger to move them? Not they! Everything they do is done to attract attention, like wearing broader phylacteries and longer tassels, like wanting to take the place of honour at banquets and the front seats in the synagogues, being greeted obsequiously in the market squares and having people call them Rabbi.
‘You, however, must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one master, and you are all brothers. You must call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers, for you have only one Teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and anyone who humbles himself will be exalted.’
Reflection on the painting
In our Gospel passage today we read how critical Jesus is of the Pharisees. He makes the point that there isn't anything wrong with what they say. Their teachings are correct. However, they did not practise what they preached, and it is with this that Jesus takes issue. But none of us fully practise what we preach. We are all guilty of being hypocritical to some extent. We claim to follow Christ, but we fail, every day.
Our painting by Bouguereau from 1850, depicts Dante and Virgil in the eighth circle of Hell (where the hypocrites, falsifiers and counterfeiters are). Dante, accompanied by Virgil, is watching a fight between two damned souls: the kneeling figure is Capocchio, an alchemist and heretic. He is being bitten in the neck by Gianni Schicchi, who had usurped the identity of a dead man in order to fraudulently claim his inheritance (we see that man lying on the right). The background depicts more hypocrites in the eighth circle of Dante's Inferno. The painter is exploring the aesthetic limits of what he can possibly paint. The muscle structures are exaggerated and the bodies are in an unnatural, entwined, twisted pose.
That is also what hypocrisy does: it bends, it twists reality, in order to suit our needs. We twist and manipulate the way we are perceived by others in order to claim to have higher standards or more faith than is actually the case. The painting is 280cm. (9ft.) high, which makes this canvas simply breathtaking to look at.
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It was difficult at first to look at this painting. Today’s readings along with other’s comments and staying alongside Christ Jesus helped immensely and I stuck with it. It reminded me of Galatians 5:15 “biting and devouring one another”, so I read that whole chapter along with the verses others mentioned.
I am grateful as hard as it was to look at the painting, in the same way it is as hard to look at my “self” in what Jesus is saying. But in the end, the brutal honesty and love brings repentance and I see more clearly.
Love your comment and writing. Will read Galatians 5:15.
Away with the guilt thing! They always used to say that Catholics are programmed with a lifetime’s guilt complex. Not any more we just need to try to be good and not dwell on our sins. Or is that a modern copout I thought as I was typing…..?
Ik zie in dit schilderij duidelijk de huidige toestand van de secularisatie. / Capocchio die in de nek bijt van Gianni Schicchi, / Ze zullen mekaar kapot maken/ De hypocrieten Dante en Vergilius kijken gewoon toe, maar doen niets./ Jezus roept op om ‘iets’ te doen./ Laten we ons degelijk en actief inzetten om de synode gestalte en uitvoering te geven, daaraan kunnen wij gewone en vernederde gelovigen onszelf nog aan verheffen. (vers 12 uit dit evangelie)
I just translated this and it’s really interesting!
They cannot help anyone in hell.
A mi el evangelio de hoy me parece que denuncia el clericalismo. Francisco ha hablado de clericalismo en la Iglesia, y en mi opinión es un tema clave en el Sínodo de la Sinodalidad.
El cuadro me produce desasosiego e incomodidad, no me gusta.
Y mi comentario se centra en la última frase “El que se enaltece será humillado y el que se humilla será enaltecido” que curiosamente es la misma última frase del evangelio de ayer. Que me recuerdan las palabras de María en el Magnificat.
Y rezo con María “Proclama mi alma la grandeza del Señor y se alegra mi espíritu en Dios mi salvador……,Él derriba de su trono a los poderosos y enaltece a los humildes”.
Feliz domingo a todos, nos vamos a misa.
Gracias, Elvira, y a ti, feliz domingo.
Noelle – do you know how to translate Elvira’s posts? i can understand a lot of it but not all.
A lot of troubled comments today. A bit worrying 😕
Hope you do not mind me replying as well. If you get stuck you can resort to: translate.google.com Copy what you want translated and paste it in altering the tabs to the language you want.
This is what I do- but I don’t reply in translation in case something is misunderstood. Shows what an issue those tranlators had with the Gospels!
Thank you Madeleine. I’ll give it a try.
Thank you so much. You have enriched my already rich life!
Father today said that this gospel made him feel really awkward as he’s the one up on the altar with the tassels and phylactaries (what are they?) lol!
Tassels were worn on the corners of Jewish male garments and you can still see them on the clothing of male Orthodox Jews today. Phylactaries were/are small boxes worn on the head and secured to the arms by leather straps. They are still worn by Orthodox male Jews for prayers today. Maybe you know this anyway, hence the lol- as you have visited the Holy Land before.
I did not know that although I suppose I could have googled 😄
By the way to emoji you go up to edit at the top and click and the emoji menu comes up.
I see! No- it didn’t work…
Useful tip, Madeleine, thank you.
Just type in Spanish to English in Google and you can cut and paste what she says.
Then watch the song by The Oakridge boys.. Elvira ,Elvira , my heart’s on fire for Elvira! 🪕😄
Lol !
Only just got your message, Chazbo. I would have happily translated Elvira’s post, but glad you’ve got advice for a more direct translation. I’ll follow that, too, and use it for Dutch, can get some way, then no further!
Feliz domingo Elvira.
I just translated this and it’s really interesting. Clericalism might have been a problem in the past and in Europe but in England today it’s lack of clerics that is the problem!
Si, señor….
I was going to say that, once again, I feel “called out” by this Gospel on hypocrisy, and that being here and commenting when I have doubts, and am very unsettled by many of the words of Jesus, is my hypocrisy. I felt I should cancel my subscription, unbookmark the CA website, and leave.
Then I thought that, when “ We twist and manipulate the way we are perceived by others in order to claim to have higher standards or more faith than is actually the case” perhaps we are actually acknowledging our imperfections and failings, and trying to model better feelings and behaviour, which may then become our real feelings and behaviour. When, as a child, I started to learn to play the piano I made a hideous noise and caused many a complaint, but with practice (pretence at playing better) I improved my skill (a weak example but I hope you understand).
I hope that God sees my heart and knows if, when I pretend to have virtues, I am genuinely seeking improvement or am just playacting.
I perceive an honest heart and mind seeking the Truth, God is the innermost part of our being and knows us inside out. I meditate, reflect and self-examine everyday, sometimes i hit the mark and sometimes…..well, a lot of times, i miss. Love your writing and composition Zeffi.
Thank you, Madeleine, and also Noelle, Janey, Patricia, Chazbo, for your kind words. We are all pilgrims on the way.
Amen, Amen and Amen
Please don’t cancel Zeffi, or anyone else who feels unworthy, myself included. If we all resigned on that basis, how many would remain?
None?!
My answer too!
Who knows!
You too Janey have good insight here… posturing, inadequacies, acknowledgement, steps, good describing, thanks
Funnily enough Zeffi, our priest said this morning that NOBODY is exempt from the hypocrisy of not really practising what we preach – even the most senior people of the Church. We all want to come across well, but we know we don’t really match up!
I am full of doubts, as you know…I don’t want to leave, I want to find the way and everyone on here helps me, you included, fellow doubter. I know I am not alone.
Today’s psalm was particularly comforting: my doubts kept me awake last night but that psalm at mass today eased my mind. “In You O Lord I have found my peace”
Indeed- I sometimes wish we had all three four readings for the day but what a can of worms that would be! They can all be found on Universalis which is an excellent resource.
Yes, hang on in there! If you didn’t have doubts you wouldn’t be a thinking being. When I was a boy I remember looking at the huge (by today’s standards) congregations at church, most of them with completely passive faces, and I thought how many of you actually believe or is this attendance just a social custom? Well those congregations have gone and I think people are much more enquiring today. Of course education, which the Church is rather good at, has made people think outside the box.
Zeffi : je doet het heel goed met jouw reflecties! We hebben er veel aan.😇🙏
Nik: Ik ben erg blij dat je mijn gedachten nuttig vindt. We hebben allemaal de steun van iedereen nodig, en uw vriendelijke woorden hebben mij heel erg bemoedigd. 🙏🌹
Hypocrisy. None of us like that word because it hits deep at something within us. This painting does much the same thing. I guess I saw it once in the Musee D’Orsay but it clearly didn’t leave a lasting impression on me. Men are fighting here, and so it speaks to me of the human obsession with war. I feel this is where hypocrisy is made far more manifest in this world because eventually someone will seek to make a peace, and sometime, however short lived it may be. How and why that can only be done after blowing innocent people to smithereens is beyond me.
And yet, we all like to take sides, to think we know what’s best, to support who we think are the ‘good’ people. Meanwhile we watch our screens and shake our heads, and then go back to whatever we were doing. This, for me is the rampant hypocrisy of the modern age.
‘We have only one master and you are ALL brothers.’ This is what I take from CArt today. I ask for God’s help to see it, and live it as far as I can.
Well said. Having witnessed war firsthand, I constantly wonder how the horror of dead human beings can create an atmosphere of peace and love. The peace in our days is permeated with hypocrisy.