Memorial of Saint John de Brébeuf and Saint Isaac Jogues, priests and martyrs, and their companions, martyrs

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101912.cfm

Two wren houses
and a patch of daisies
form a mustachioed grin

Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.

Wikipedia has some interesting remarks about transparency:

Transparency is a general quality. It is implemented by a set of policies, practices and procedures that allow citizens to have accessibility, usability, utility, understandability, informativeness and auditability of information and process held by centers of authority (society or organizations). Feedback mechanisms are necessary to fulfill the goal of transparency.

Transparency has been, for long, a general requirement for democratic societies. The right to be informed and to have access to the information has been an important issue on modern societies.

In the context of today’s remarks about the Pharisees, it appears they and other leading citizens were not living transparent lives. Nor were their policies and decisions open to scrutiny and criticism. But Jesus assures his disciples – who are often neglected and exploited by the powerful – that every decision made in secrecy will be exposed.

The authors of our American Constitution appreciated the importance of transparency. They wanted a free press to ferret out the backroom deals and clandestine cabals in government. But even with those first amendment guarantees, leaders and led struggle with openness. There are always people who suspect conspiracies and there are always conspirators who attempt to hide what the public should know. The virtuous are eager to disclose the truth even when it’s embarrassing, and eager to know the truth, even when it’s both subtle and complex.

Sometimes one or the other faction gets carried away. Those who obsessively suspect conspiracies in the government inevitably overlook the real ones. While they’re crying wolf, foxes are raiding the chicken house; for example, the looting of our banks while everyone was looking for terrorists.

But conspirators can be found everywhere, not only in the military and the government but also in business, schools, churches, benevolent societies, volunteer organizations, and families. They take care of themselves first, and then their responsibilities. 

Civic virtue is always in short supply; no human system can prevent every crime and right every wrong. There are no innocents among us and we should suspect everyone, including and especially my self.

But Jesus assures us, “His eye is on the sparrow.” God sees what is happening; he will reward the just and punish the wicked. Rest assured of that.