This past Thursday was Halloween. At some point your doorbell probably rang and a little child stood outside saying, "trick-or-treat." Most children like Halloween because they like to pretend. It is a time when they can put on a costume and a mask and become anyone their mind tells them they are. Putting on a mask and pretending is perfectly acceptable for a child. Putting on a mask and pretending is not acceptable for a follower of Christ. We are not called to appear to be a holy people. We are called to really be a holy people.

In the gospel today Jesus gives us the example of the Pharisees, who, he says, wear all the holy costumes --headbands and tassels in front of their eyes, which contain passages from scripture. The reason they did this was because in scripture God says, "Keep my a words always before your eyes." That way, when the Pharisees moved their heads, they would see the words of scripture, thereby keeping God's words before their eyes. According to Jesus, the Pharisees were in a sense, trick or treating, like children last Thursday, because they were merely putting on a show. They knew how to hold up their arms in prayer and to say the proper, pious platitudes and to pretend they were holy, but they in fact were not holy.

God looks and sees many of us, also, trick-or-treating like the Pharisees in today’s gospel. He might look and see a religious leader--a bishop or priest or even a deacon--wearing a nice pious costume and saying all the proper things, but carrying on immoral, and perhaps even, illegal actions, as we, unfortunately, have been witness to this past year. Such behavior could not emanate from the soul of a holy person. As we well know, the whole church is still staggering under the scandal caused by a very small number of priests and bishops who, while wearing a costume of a shepherd, were actually wolves preying on innocent, young children.

But again, God might look at a mother or father, who professes their Christianity, but in their relationship with their children, they act as though this is just a costume covering someone over who is not open to God in his or her life. Or perhaps, he might look at someone who approaches the altar Sunday after Sunday to receive the Eucharist, who is all too eager to cast a vote for politicians who support and promote the killing of unborn children or who support the death penalty. Or how about those who challenge young people to say no to drugs while they themselves over-indulge on alcohol. The list could go on and on.

Today we are faced with some of the most frightening words in scripture. We are told we must fight against our own hypocrisy. We must recognize, however, that our Lord's warnings against hypocrisy are not directed exclusively at religious leaders, for after all, in a sense, each of us is a preacher and a leader by virtue of our baptism. Not necessarily a preacher in word but certainly by our deeds. By our actions, by our attitudes, by our daily living, we carry a message to the people we meet. But does the message we deliver truly reflect the faith we profess? If we are to be the disciples of Jesus, then he demands that we be humble, honest and authentic. He challenges us to a truthfulness of mind and heart that we accurately reflect in both word and deed.

All of us need to avoid being a hypocrite. To that end each of us needs to take responsibility for our own life rather than entrusting it to others. We cannot be satisfied with saying that we are a follower of this or that person -- be it a figure on TV, a priest, or a bishop, or whomever -- and let that person determine our lives. We must always take responsibility for our own faith lives. In the gospel we heard that we are to call no man "father" or "Rabbi" or "teacher," which means we are to call no person our guru, for if we have a guru, then we do not take personal responsibility for what we do.

Yes, we do call our priests "Father" in that they are to be the head of our faith family in our parishes. But we are never to give our priests the position of guru, entrusting them with the responsibility for our lives. Our lives are to be entrusted to God and God only. Only Christ can be our true teacher and guide. If each of us can find the courage to let Jesus be our guide, and if every aspect of living and life reflects the presence of Jesus in the world, then we will not be wearing masks, and we will really and truly be followers of Christ. Halloween and make believe are for children, but following Jesus is the serious work of people who are willing to expose their faces and their lives to the world.

At the end of today's gospel Jesus says: "The greatest among you will be the one who serves the rest. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." This hallmark of service is exemplified by St. Paul in today's second reading, when he says, "We were gentle among you, as a nursing mother caring for her children. With such affection for you, we were determined to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our very selves as well..." Service is the hallmark of the Christian individual and community. Our own personal greatness can and will be found only in the quality of our own leadership, which is for us, as Christians, our service to one another.

As many of you are aware, I, along with my brother deacons present here today, are members of the second deaconate class ordained for our diocese. Today, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary of ordination. Consequently, I would like to offer a story that illustrates what I have just said.

One the first Sunday after their ordination, two proud new deacons were in the sacristy chatting with the altar servers before Mass. One of the altar servers asked, "What it is a deacon, anyway?" Seizing upon this teachable moment, the new deacons began to explain the about the clerical hierarchy from the pope on down. Finally, they got to the bishop, the priest and then the deacon. The altar server, filled with this new understanding, made sure by asking: "So, there is nothing lower than a deacon?"

The altar server was indeed correct because deacons are ordained to serve. Like Jesus, the deacon can say, "I came not to be served, bought to serve." In fact, the diaconal stole that I and my brother deacons wear diagonally across our chests symbolizes a towel. The towel of service is for wiping washed feet as Jesus did at the last supper in the gospel of John and for the cleaning tables.