Many of us have experienced the moment in our life when we are confronted with a very difficult and hard truth. It might be when we were young and one of our classmates cried out, “He’s a liar!” I can remember that moment and the flush of red that ran up my cheeks and the shame that coursed through my body. If we are standing on lies and are confronted by the truth then the lie falls apart.
My parish is reading Matthew Kelly’s book Rediscover Jesus where he asks us on the second day to make a list of everything we know about Jesus. One word on my list was “truth,” because Jesus is the truth. Our life, given by God, is built on truth, which makes everything much easier.
At our parish staff meeting this week we were reflecting on this Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 4:1-13) where Jesus is tempted in the desert at the beginning of his ministry. We shared our dismay that the devil had been given so much power over the world. “The devil said to him, “I shall give to you all this power and their glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I may give it to whomever I wish.” (Lk 4:6) We have to remember one simple thing: the devil is a liar. In The Collegeville Bible Commentary they write, “The devil claims that the power and glory are at his disposal; his is a liar and not to be trusted, but many before and after Jesus have fallen for this temptation.” (p. 945) As Jesus, who is the truth, confronts the lies of the devil with truth the devil flees.
Our search for the truth always begins with the search for Jesus. He is the foundation on which we are called to build our life and the compass that directs our actions and good works. But, as was noted in the commentary, we often fall for the temptation and sin of the lie. In this Year of Mercy, our Catholic Church calls us to confront the lies that punishment and retribution are the pathway to security and peace where we are tempted into the isolation and fear of neither seeking and reaching out to the other in our life.
The path of mercy, the path of truth comes when we are in relationship with God and know the truth of God’s divine and everlasting mercy. This relationship comes when we practice the Works of Mercy as we yearn for the mercy offered by God. It is the unending work of choosing the truth of God over the deception of the devil. It is recognizing the reality that we all experience in that first conscious lie, where as we stammer the words of untruth into the world we are sure that, like Adam and Eve, we are exposed and naked before the truth of God’s ever present desire for our goodness. Mercy is the balm that heals this wound and continues to be offered again and again for the forgiveness of our sins.
Our invitation, as Matthew Kelly writes in the meditation for the third day, this first Friday of Lent, “is to stop looking for something and start looking to someone, Jesus of Nazareth.” (p. 26) When we look into the eyes of truth then the lies will melt away and we will, through prayer, fasting and almsgiving, be filled with true peace and become missionaries of God’s mercy.
God bless
Fr. Mark