THE IMPOSTER SYNDROME

[1]Sitting here as we hear the word of God it struck me seeing the masks on many of us, that we are getting to the point where we will soon be able to relax the local mask mandates just in time for Halloween that’s coming soon. So, we’ll get to put on some different masks. There’s another common reason we adults put on masks is called, it’s been called the Imposter Syndrome. It happens when we fear that the world is going to find us out. I’ve heard it described as the feeling of being a fake, like we really don’t belong, or we aren’t really successful but are just posing as such. It’s like my Halloween costume at age 7; I dressed up as a zombie, something I believed to be terribly scary, until my next-door neighbor yanked off my mask and said, “Oh, it’s just you.”

In today’s Gospel encounter with the Pharisees, Jesus is frustrated by the disconnect between, what the Jewish religious leaders profess to believe, and their actions. Their preoccupation with external cleansing is really only a mask to disguise the real uncleanliness that comes from the inner life of a person.[2]

What masks do you wear? Do you really need to wear them?

Paul tells us God’s righteousness is revealed through the Gospel. God is faithful to the commitments to the world, and to the promises made to the Jewish people. God’s faith, His fidelity, His commitment comes first; we, in turn, respond with our faith of openness and commitment to His graces. God created us, knit us together in our mother’s womb, He knows us through and through despite the masks we choose to wear. It seems one of our greatest fears may be, that if we show our true selves, the world will say, “Oh, it’s just you.” Yet, being just who God created us to be is actually the best and most perfect thing we can ever be.

Oscar Wilde once said, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” We weren’t born with masks. We put them on, so we can take them off. Here are three practical reasons why we need to shed our masks: The first reason is we are called to live to our full potential. We have been wonderfully made and gifted uniquely to hold a place in the community and the family of faith. The second reason, it’s got to be exhausting to live an inauthentic life. Pretending we are something we may not be. It’s like telling a lie, then needing to tell more lies to keep up the appearance of the first lie. The third reason is when we wear masks, we lose a piece of ourselves, we’re basically saying that we consider parts of ourselves as unworthy. To be in, maintain and heal relationships (human & divine), we must offer up all of ourselves.[3]

The poet E. E. Cummings wrote, “The greatest battle we face as human beings is the battle to protect our true selves from the self the world wants us to become.” To become an imposter just to fit in the world. Let us think about the masks we wear and commit to taking them off, no longer imposters, but exactly who God created us to be. Let’s live the good within us—no apology, no shame, no regrets, just us, beloved sons and daughters of a loving God.

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[1] Scripture (NABRE), Romans 1:16-25; Luke 11:37-41.

[2] Weekday HomilyHelps, Exegesis by Michael Guinan, OFM

[3] Psychology Today, “The Masks That We Wear” by Susan Sparks, posted October 20, 2015.