Word to the Wise
Thursday, January 29, 2009 - Thursday in the Third Week in Ordinary Time
[Hebrews 10:19-25 and Mark 4:21-25]Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand?
There is a familiar set of figurines that displays three brass monkeys. One has its hands over its eyes, another over its ears and the third over its mouth. The title of the figurine, of course, is "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil!" In many ways it has come to mean "denial" of any reality that is threatening - one simply pretends it is not there! Another analogy that is frequently invoked is that of the ostrich with its head in the sand! All of this is by way of demonstrating the truth of the saying, "There are none so blind as those who will not see." The Gospel of Mark is clear about what should be seen. Jesus is the light that has come. There are consequences to ignoring the light or placing it somewhere that it cannot shine. The most obvious consequence is darkness! It was my experience often in campus ministry that a student with a fairly good Catholic background and faith would come to college and encounter a culture where certain pleasures of life are unencumbered by religious belief! The attraction of these pleasures turns faith into an inconvenience - a voice that seems always to say, "NO!" Rather than accepting the light that faith can bring to the temptations of darkness, the student chooses to ignore it with the usual disappointing and empty consequences. Faith is a matter of "Yes!" and not a finger-wagging, "No!" It is one of the most terrible consequences of catechesis since the 19th century that we have failed to make the life-giving design of God more attractive! AMEN
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