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Authenticity in terms of one’s life, if reflected on in
terms of actions or an act, is the truthfulness of the
act in one’s heart and one’s mind.
It is
the challenge of not being fake, hypocritical, dishonest
or insincere. It also reflects the importance of
congruence, harmony and unity between what we present to
the outside world, or our “outer life,” and what we feel
in our minds and hearts, our “inner life.”
Authenticity is a challenge to go inside ourselves,
examine our motives, intentions and the desires of our
hearts.
I read a
book that said, “We are all hypocrites.” I can imagine
that this is true when sometimes we do not show our real
intentions because we fear rejection from the people
around us.
What is
our motive for the things we think, say and do? After
all, who truly knows a person’s real motives, but
himself and God?
Authenticity, or awareness of our inner intentions,
dares us to root our intentions. Romans 12 says, “To be
rooted always to what is good, perfect and pleasing to
God.”
In
Paul’s letters to the Romans, he says that our
intentions when we pray, fast or do acts of charity
should be rooted to being good, perfect and pleasing to
God. This is the way that we should evaluate our
motivations in what we think, in the way we speak, and
the way we act. It should start with a conscious renewal
and purification of our intentions.
St.
Ignatius taught us the concept of examination of
conscience. Prior to every thought or act, ask yourself:
are my intentions good, perfect and pleasing to God? Is
this synchronized or congruent in accordance to what is
good, perfect and pleasing to God?
We pray,
fast and do acts of charity, but sometimes our motives
are different. Praying that something terrible befalls
someone is not good, perfect, nor pleasing to God. Some
perform fasting for vested interest or personal gains.
Fr.
Anthony de Mello, Jesuit priest and psychotherapist
widely known for his books on spirituality and spiritual
retreats in a multireligious context, warns us from
being self-centered when doing acts of charity. Do you
help the poor to feel good about yourself? Or to have
your pictures in the newspapers?
The
compelling challenge of Romans 12 is to be dominantly
motivated by what is good, perfect and pleasing to God.
It is the challenge of discernment of spirits. We must
always discern every time we think, say things or act.
If we
are motivated authentically in spirit, mind and body,
this is the key to our devotion, our ultimate goal, when
we pray, fast or do acts of charity.
In the
Bible, Jesus constantly questioned the Pharisees and
scribes who pray, fast and do acts of charity on their
“outer lives” but lack purity and sincerity in their
“inner lives,” motivated by jealousy, anger, revenge and
greed.
“Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? [Mt
19:16]” The question which the rich, young man puts to
Jesus is one which rises from the depths of his heart.
In the young man, we can recognize every person who,
consciously or not, approaches Christ and questions Him
about morality.
“For the
young man, the question is about the full meaning of
life. This is the aspiration at the heart of every human
decision and action, the quiet searching and interior
prompting which sets freedom in motion. This question is
ultimately an appeal to the absolute good, which
attracts us and beckons us. (John Paul II, Veritatis
splendor).”
In
whatever we do, and in what we must become, both within
ourselves and how we deal with others, we must learn to
be authentic. Let us examine and reflect the challenge
of authenticity in all we think, say and do, and let us
pray for one another that we may always be dominated by
the challenge to be motivated by what is good, perfect
and pleasing to God.
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