Handiwork of the Devil

~~~ Deuteronomy 13:1-9, 15-17, 19-30, 33-62 ~~~ 

~~~ Psalm 23 ~~~ John 8:1-11 ~~~

Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; 

for you are at my side.

The two stories from these readings

 so beautifully complement one another.

The first reading features Susanna, 

who was wrongfully accused of adultery.

Her accusers were ready to pick up their stones 

and pummel her to death with them.

She was definitely plunged into the dark valley.

Two men came forward claiming they had seen 

her in the garden with another man. 

Ultimately they were proven to be lying

when questioned by Daniel

 by their own conflicting information.

If you decide to lie you risk the power of truth.

If you lie you eventually erode more

 and more good from your heart. 

These two accusers lost touch with how their lies 

would impact their own lives.

God came to the side of Susanna;

she was found innocent.

Deception is always the handiwork of the devil.
Deception by design masks truth and beauty.

Deception is like taking a black marker and scribbling
 on something that would otherwise be clear.

The gospel brings us the woman caught in adultery.
She is thrown down into the dirt right at the feet of Jesus.
These accusers claim to have caught her in the act.

While we know their goal was to trick Jesus
we do not know if they were hiding half of the truth.

What if they set up this woman?
Could they have paid a man to seduce her
for the prime purpose of catching her in the 'act'? 

Unlike Susanna this nameless woman
was brought directly to Jesus.
He was to be her judge.
He was the one who would pass the
judgement for her to be stoned.

Her accusers were not expecting Jesus
 to turn the tables on them.

Instead giving the green light for this poor woman
 to be stoned to death he writes in the sand.

Whatever Jesus wrote in the sand that day resulted
in the elders quickly and quietly turning away.

Suddenly they no longer wanted
to stick around for the customary stoning.

Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; 

for you are at my side.

This woman too was walking in the dark valley.
She too feared for her life as she knelt in the dirt.
She trembled with anticipation of the
first stone to pelt her bare skin.

Instead she heard the voice of Jesus...
"Let the one among you who is without sin 
be the first to throw a stone at her."

Who among you is without sin?

As we approach Holy Week I invite you to take
one last examination of conscience.

Maybe you can hold a stone and meditate
on the words of Jesus from this Gospel.

Then Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you.
Go, and from now on do not sin any more."

From now on do not sin any more...
it is never too late to begin again.
Jesus offers words of mercy and encouragement.

Jesus walks in the dark valley with you.
He is slow to anger abundant in grace.
You are never alone.

~~~Peace~~~

Are You Honest with Yourself?

~~~ 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 ~~~ Psalm 139 ~~~ Matthew 23:27-32 ~~~

Jesus continues to harp on the scribes and Pharisees...

Accusing them of white washing the exterior of the tombs

while fully knowing that inside lies rotten flesh and dry bones.

He goes on to accuse them of pretending

 to have been better than those who have died.

 ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors,

we would not have joined them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’

Jesus is not easily fooled by their play with words.

Jesus is not impressed by their external appearance and practices.

Jesus knows that the scribes and the Pharisees

are not connected to the truth of Psalm 139.

You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

They shun away from uttering these words.

They fool themselves into believing that only 

they know what lies within their heart.

They fool themselves into believing that Jesus

 is just like the rest of the people.

With the scribes and Pharisees what you see is not what you get.

They lie about who they are and what they are

 right to the face of everyone.

But when they try their usual tactics with Jesus;

it fails to work...Jesus knows too much.

Jesus does not have a crystal ball or any magic abilities.

Nothing is or can be hidden from Jesus...

not darkness...not far away places...

no mountain tops or ocean depths.

Where can I go from your spirit?

From your presence where can I flee?

Secretly the scribes and Pharisees 

are seeking a place where Jesus is not present.

Jesus makes them feel very uncomfortable,

but they remain stubborn, resistant, hard headed.

They continue to polish their public appearance...

they whitewash the sad facade of their life.

Jesus hears their empty words.

Just as he hears all of our words too.

We cannot say or act in such a manner that would

camouflage our true self from God. 

You have searched me and you know me, Lord.

We must learn from the foolish thinking 

of the scribes and Pharisees.

Pretending to be better than we really

 are inside does not work with Jesus.

Imagine Jesus laughing the next time you

are temped to think you can fool him.

Jesus knows us more intimately than our parents or our friends.

Jesus knows us better than we may even know ourselves.

If you pretend long enough you may be able to fool yourself.

You may be able to rationalize away all of your 

ways which are not pleasing to God.

The most holy people learned to come to Jesus 

with their flaws and weaknesses.

We must come to Jesus with an honest open heart.

He is the great healer,

but first you must be honest with yourself.

This is how you are able...

walk in a manner worthy of the God...

who calls you, knows you, and loves you.

May all the days of your life be Blessed

 first from the inside. 

~~~Peace~~~

Blindness of Deception

~~~ Genesis 27:1-5, 15-29 ~~~ Psalm 135 ~~~ Matthew 9:14-17 ~~~

 

Today we have the curious story of deception in the first book of the Bible...Genesis.

When reading the book of Genesis we are given the full scope of our creation...

from the creation of everything through the first

sin in the garden leading on to deception and murder.

 

Isaac was old and his eyesight was greatly diminished.

As customary of the time, a special blessing was bestowed

on the first born son by the father.

For whatever reason the mother, Rebekah, plotted to deceive her husband.

She wanted her son Esau to receive the special blessing from Issac.

 

When you lose one of your senses the others become more sensitive.

They almost become hyper sensitive to the environment.

Having lost his vision Issac now mostly relied on his sense of hearing, smell, and touch.

Rebekah went to great lengths; she covered the arms and hands of Jacob with animal fur.

This was the deception of touch.

When Issac felt the hand of Jacob he thought is felt like the hand of Esau.

 

Even though Issac has questions about the timeliness of the hunt,

he trusts his son's word.

 

But Isaac asked,

“How did you succeed so quickly, son?”
He answered,
“The LORD, your God, let things turn out well with me.”

 

Lying creates its own world apart from the real world.

As we know one lie leads to another etc.

 

“Although the voice is Jacob’s, the hands are Esau’s.”

 

The deception and lies continue...

Issac once again asks...Are you my son?

Still not convinced it is Esau before him;

 Issac combines his sense of touch with his sense of smell.

 

Finally his father Isaac said to Jacob,
“Come closer, son, and kiss me.”
As Jacob went up and kissed him,
Isaac smelled the fragrance of his clothes.

 

The ultimate deception is one shrouded in false love

 and empty gestures of affection. 

 

 Jacob undoubtedly loved his father and his mother.

Unfortunately he was not strong enough to disobey his mother's plot of deception.

 

 

With that, he blessed him saying,

“Ah, the fragrance of my son
is like the fragrance of a field
that the LORD has blessed!

 

Isaac gives the blessing to the wrong son in good faith.

The lies and deception were a success.

 In blind faith, Isaac gave his special blessing to Jacob instead of Esau.

Imagine the sadness and disgust when the truth is revealed to Isaac.

 

Deception is selfish and unworthy of any type of blessing.

The truth will set you free in all circumstances.

Imagine the disappointment experienced by Esau upon learning

what his brother and mother had done.

He was not deprived of his rightful blessing.

 

Those who would plan to deceive may go to great lengths

 to create a plausible scene.

Unfortunately we must be vigilant to those who

wish to deceive others. 

 

Blessings lie in the Truth.

Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

Daniel 9:4b-10 ~~~ Psalm 79 ~~~ Luke 6: 36-38

Mea Culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault...

At the beginning of every Mass we, in unison with the community, admit our guilt. We and we alone are responsible for our actions good or bad, positive or negative. Even though we recite these words of guilt together we present ourselves indiviually before God's holy altar.

Here I am Lord admitting I have mud on my face. Admitting I have been caught with my hand in the candy jar. We are tattling on ourselves, only because we profess to also believe in the mercy of God.

It's as if we are saying, 'Ahhh, God, I know I have not been the best person so many times, but remember you promised...' And now comes the pleading like a little child...'you promised forgiveness and you also promised mercy.' We look up at God with sad puppy dog eyes trusting in his attentive forgiveness. At the same time we are secretly hoping that we will not be required to actually name our sins. After all God is all knowing therefore he already knows.

Have you ever thought of your sins from the generic perspective? I think I probably have at least once or twice. We even try to rationalze them away.We did this or acted that way because...well you know, it just happened. 

We rarely feel as if we are in the courtroom swearing on the Bible 'to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth'. We are masters at deception...deceiving even  ourselves. We would much rather look out at others than inside our own heart.

We diligently join the psalmist in praying, 'Lord, do not deal with us according to our sins.' The flip side of this plea ties us back to the 'Golden Rule'. Jesus tells us, 'Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.'

If we treat others with the mercy of God then we too will find favor with God, who is the giver of gifts. Grace will be given to us overflowing; poured into our laps.

"For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."
Be generous in all things, but especially forgiveness and mercy. This is the only way we can ever hope to be perfect as our heavenly Father. Forgiveness is the only way to maintain wholeness within your heart and soul.

When you recite the penitential rite at the opening of every Mass, don't just mouth the words, but rather speak them in the spirit of true mercy.

Mercy gives the benefit of the doubt to the other person.

Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa,

ushers in the grace for God to 'manifest the motives of our hearts.' (1 Cor.4:5)