Romans 3:21-29 / Lk 11:47-54
Why did the Israelites have such a hard time with the prophets, shedding the blood of every one from Abel to Zechariah? The prophets were troublesome and irritating because they told the truth, even and especially when it made their listeners uncomfortable. And there was ample precedent in ancient times for dealing with bad news: Kill the messenger!
I doubt that killing has ever occurred to us as a serious option, but a swift counterattack is all too common when an unwanted truth is spoken to us. Of course, not all truth-tellers have our best interests in mind, which makes it all the harder to receive their message. But the biggest barrier to our hearing the truth is always the same: Our old nemesis, ego, which has to defend its foolish pose as the center of the universe and the repository of all wisdom and competence. What a joke! Yet, how often we let ego trick us into defending the indefensible.
There’s a cure for ego’s power over us, and that is to give ourselves thoroughly into the hands of Our Lord, with the open-hearted admission that we’re far from finished works and that we never will get put together if He doesn’t help us. That’s the real truth, and it will set us free from ego and all its tiresome pretensions.
Why waste any more time trying to defend the indefensible? Instead, let’s confront the truth — whatever it is — with the full confidence that there’s nothing we can’t face, and nothing we need to fear, as long as the Lord is at our side. And never doubt it, he’s always there.
