Honesty and Truth
Gospel: Mt 21:23-27
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/121624.cfm
In times of crisis we can ask ourselves: Why did this happen? Why am I feeling the way I am feeling? What is the deeper purpose of significance of what is happening? What is God trying to show me or teach me? What does God want from me? What does God want me to be? The search and quest for the meaning and understanding of life is fickle. At times we feel like we’ve figured it out to then be completely thrown off and have our worldview left with uncertainty and questioning. This can be driven internally by how we’re feeling; things that used to reward us or give us a sense of love, may now fall short.. It can also be driven externally by observing things in the world where we’ve established a deep understanding of cause and effect like good things should happen to good people and bad things should happen to bad. Even sayings like “God will only give you what you can handle” are phrases at times that can make you feel strong, hopeful, and consoled but, at other times, it can crush you.
In today’s gospel, we see this struggle for meaning happening to the chief priests and elders. They want to understand what Jesus thought his authority was. We can presume, given other scripture, that they wanted to catch him in heresy. Jesus turns the question back on them and asks them about the authority of John the Baptist. The chief priests and elders had their beliefs and thoughts about this and had their assumptions about the beliefs and thoughts about others. They were concerned about the judgement from Jesus and from the people depending on their response so they decided not to respond instead of speaking their opinion.
We cannot move beyond our own ignorance if we are not honest with each other. Life has a tendency to be a mystery. We will never have all the answers. For those of us searching, once we feel like we’ve grasped it, it slips or finds a way to surprise us. But for us to continue to grow, we must be honest to ourselves and to God on where we are at. We must be willing to come to God openly with our vulnerability, uncertainties, and even at times with our sense of certainty. It is through our honesty that God can form us. We need not be afraid of being wrong for God will mercifully guide us to where we need to be. Unlike the chief priest and elders in today’s gospel, let us not be afraid to speak up so God can show us the way.
May we be honest to ourselves and God so he can bring us fullness of hope, joy, love, and peace. Amen.
