Thursday of the Third Week of Lent

 Lectionary: 240

This is what I commanded my people:
Listen to my voice;
then I will be your God and you shall be my people.
Walk in all the ways that I command you,
so that you may prosper.

"Listen to my voice!" is a clear, straightforward command. It would be impossible to ignore but throw up absurd obstacles like, "Maybe you don't exist." 

The real question is, "Do you believe in Truth? Is there any such thing? Is it important? Do you love the Truth? How much are you willing to pay, or sacrifice, for the Truth? 

Does Truth speak to you? Or does it remain aloof and silent, saying nothing, never presenting or promoting itself?

Scientists seek the truth as if it speaks reluctantly. They continually suspect their own beliefs and assumptions. They look for hidden assumptions, both true and false, as they critique their own and the work of their colleagues. But sometimes their intuitions suspect something else; that perhaps the truth may be found if they pay attention to a hunch. And they wonder, "Did that come like a gift from the truth?"

Pontius Pilate hit the nail on the head when he sneered, "What is truth?" He had his own answer, that there is no such thing. Or if it does it does not speak; and neither commands nor deserves respect. The Roman felt with all his superiors and colleagues that he could ignore the truth, and dispose of the Ambassador of Truth who stood before him. 

Yes, Truth speaks to us, sometimes loudly, insistently, and persistently. It comes with angry revolutionists -- called "terrorists" -- who react to the violence of poverty with more violence. It comes in the form of droughts, fires, and massive hurricanes; and the resulting mass migrations of millions of people. 

It comes to us from out of the past, by way of our Catholic tradition; and it speaks to us with a prophetic voice today. And in language we understand. And so we either retreat to pusillanimous stupidity and say, "I'm not sure that God exists," or we listen and obey.  

Jeremiah says of today's disbelief in the first reading:

But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed.

They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts

and turned their backs, not their faces, to me.

Disbelief in God will never be an excuse for not listening to God. It risks the loss of God's mercy. For the Truth does not wait forever.