Optional Memorial of Saint Augustine Zhao Rong, priest, and companions, martyrs

 Lectionary: 388

Therefore do not be afraid of them.
Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.
What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.

"Be afraid. Be very afraid!" the horror movie trailers like to say. And Christians are afraid of the living God "who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." But our fear is a holy fear, a deep, reverential respect for the One who is True. The Lord mercifully speaks Truth to those who have neither won the right nor deserved to hear it. 

We see the Truth accosting us in the plagues of violence which afflict our nation. If we thought there was something innately blessed about a nation so conceived and so dedicated, our exceptionalism has been revealed as exceptionally self-destructive. In every other respect we are a nation like all others, given only some time to contribute what we might to world history. If some of our children revere Adolph Hitler and emulate Nazism, we cannot assume our memory will be one of unblemished purity. 

Why do the nations rage against us? Do they envy our freedom. But when freedom is nothing more than the right to carry, we realize they rage against the virulence of our drug abuse, gun violence, and epidemic suicide. Even as we build borders against their refugees we send tendrils of hate among them. 

As Catholics and Christians we must speak the truth in the light without fear of how it might be received. We have a deeper investment in the Truth that will save us than in this passing world with its revolving moments of hope and despair. 

Two weeks after "Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization," we should expect the turbulence to continue, and the news media to be obsessed with the ongoing story, as if "new developments" are happening daily. 

They need to promote their "news" when it's not new, because their sponsors demand results. But we don't need to hear it all again. We do need to turn our contemplative hearts back to the Lord, and to what we have heard in secret. 

"Dobbs" has reminded us that there is Truth, and it is as strong and irresistible as gravity. It's reach is infinite, and no free flying object in the universe can resist it. Nor can any freedom lover avoid the ineluctable demands of Truth. They will be brought to earth. They may choose to land gracefully as they recognize their self-deception. Or they may crash and be destroyed by their choice of evil. The Truth, like coronavirus, doesn't really care what choice they make for its rule is sovereign. While it punishes the foolish and the wicked, its gentleness is reserved for the wise.

In the meanwhile, we worship the Lord and pray for mercy even for the foolish. Some are quite blinded by the bright promises of falsehood; and many of them are dear to us.