His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, in a message posted on the Instagram social media platform, refers to the prevailing tendency in the modern age to prioritise appearance over essence, and to the ever-increasing need of the human person to validate their worth through public display and the acceptance of others.
“The world today pushes the human person to give weight to appearance and not to being,” the Archbishop observes at the outset. “Have you considered how many things we would not do,” he continues, “if others were not watching us? Have you considered how much we torment our existence when we struggle to present a version of ourselves that is not real? We pursue success in life, but we need witnesses to advertise it. We think that what is beautiful is no longer beautiful if people do not see it.”
Emphasising that “it is not a failure to go unnoticed,” he offers a paternal exhortation to seek the meaning of life not in the eyes of others, but in our relationship with God and with ourselves: “Do not have an inner need to be displayed. Do what you want for yourself. Do what will give real meaning to your life and will free you from the opinion and judgment of others. And do not allow anyone’s opinion and judgment to define your life. Become a good person, become a person of God, strive to succeed in your life, but do not be anxious to prove it to others.”
The post with the recorded video message of Archbishop Makarios follows: