The Truth is Not a Game. The Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

The Truth is Not a Game. 

The Twenty-Ninth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2020

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October 18, 2020

Isaiah 45:4-6; Psalm 96; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21

 

 

To trap Jesus the Pharisees played games with the truth and in the end truth won. Notice that the Pharisees did not confront Jesus directly, but sent their disciples with some of Herod’s friends to trip him up with his words. They wanted to appear to be honest, but their insincerity became obvious. Their clever ploy appealed to the truth, even though they were not seeking it, and when all was said and done, truth emerged victorious. A lesson in this story is that lies, cunning, mischievous ploys may win the in the short term, but truth endures. People can play with words as if they are in a game, but one’s honest intentions will eventually be seen.

 

We hear on the daily news many attempts by leaders and politicians to play games with the truth. We want them to tell the truth; we expect it of them, but it is not the business they are in. They are not earnestly seeking the truth because they are in a game of being opinion-makers and policy-shapers and trying to persuade voters to be on their side. Truth is a relative inconvenience that can be shifted by the demands of the game because what matters to them is that people come to believe their particular narrative, even if it means that they do an about-face on their prior opinions. What matters is the opinion that one is shaping in the present moment. The past will be quickly forgotten and forgiven.

 

It jars us because we were formed to value truth and honesty and we want everyone to play by the same rules. Let’s own up to the fact that we will not get a level playing field. All we can do is to live with integrity and to search for the truth in our local domain. Telling the truth, living by the truth, is an art, and we have to be resourceful in finding ways to tell the truth with compassion. 

 

It is best if we refrain by using exaggerated words because they take us away from the truth. Think about the person who always says, “This is wonderful.” If everything is wonderful, then nothing is wonderful. People stop believing in you. Also, it is important to avoid double-talk. People will detect whether you are consistent or not, and your words need integrity. Make sure your words mean something so don’t change the content to suit your advantage. If you do that, you have strayed from the truth. Silence works when you feel that you are about to say something that contradicts what you really think. It preserves you from telling a lie that you don’t intend to make. 

 

Our truth-telling comes about when we speak the language that others speak, with their vocabulary, to show that we can adapt to the circumstances. This shows an important connection. We may speak differently to different people, which shows our sensitivity to their situation. It is not double-speak if the content remains truthful so that another person can really hear what is being said. Just as a doctor prescribes the right medicine for a disease, we share information in ways that people can integrate and use later. This is truth-telling in a skillful way. Our speaking has to reflect the absolute truth. Whenever we need to say something that will be difficult for another to hear, we have to be humble and look more deeply into our methods to discover in what way we can talk about these things. Truth-telling means to express yourself effectively in everyday life. It is not a game, and it establishes your credibility. 

 

Watch what happens when you develop a lifetime experience of speaking the truth sincerely. You gain strength. You remain in balance. You are valued and sought after for your wisdom. Your relationships evolve into something meaningful. You are known for reflecting the humble truth that Jesus speaks. This isn’t a game. 

 

Scripture for Daily Mass

 

First Reading:

Monday: (Ephesians 2) You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you once lived following the age of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the disobedient.

 

Tuesday: (Ephesians 2) You were at that time without Christ, alienated from the community of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world.

 

Wednesday: (Ephesians 3) To me, the very least of all the holy ones, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the inscrutable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for all what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things, so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the Church to the principalities and authorities in the heavens.

 

Thursday: (Ephesians 3) I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

 

Friday (Ephesians 4) I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit
through the bond of peace.

 

Saturday (Ephesians 4) Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore, it says: He ascended on high and took prisoners captive; he gave gifts to men.

Gospel: 

Monday: (Luke 12) Take care to guard against all greed, for though one may be rich, one’s life does not consist of possessions.

 

Tuesday: (Luke 12) Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.

 

Wednesday (Luke 12) If the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come. 

 

Thursday (Luke 12) I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!

 

Friday (Luke 12) When you see a cloud rising in the west you say immediately that it is going to rain–and so it does; and when you notice that the wind is blowing from the south you say that it is going to be hot–and so it is.

 

Saturday (Luke 13) Some people told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with the blood of their sacrifices. He said to them in reply, “Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way they were greater sinners than all other Galileans? By no means!

 

Saints of the Week

 

October 18: Luke, evangelist (first century) was the author of his version of the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. He is described as a doctor and a friend of Paul. He was a well-educated Gentile who was familiar with the Jewish scriptures and he wrote to other Gentiles who were coming into a faith.

 

October 19: North American Jesuit martyrs: Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf, priests, and companions (17th century) were killed between 1642 and 1649 in Canada and the United States. Though they knew of harsh conditions among the warring Huron and Mohawk tribes in the New World, these priests and laymen persisted in evangelizing until they were captured, brutally tortured, and barbarically killed. 

 

October 20: Paul of the Cross, priest (1694-1775), founded the Passionists in 1747. He had a boyhood call that propelled him into a life of austerity and prayer. After receiving several visions, he began to preach missions throughout Italy that mostly focused upon the Passion of the Lord. After his death, a congregation for nuns was begun. 

 

October 23: John of Capistrano, priest, had a vision of Francis of Assisi when he was imprisoned during an Italian civil war at which time he was the governor of Perugia. He entered the Franciscan Friars Minor in 1415 after ending his marriage. He preached missions throughout Europe including a mission to Hungary to preach a crusade against the Turks. After the Christian victory at the Battle of Belgrade in 1456, John died. 

 

October 24: Anthony Claret, bishop (1807-1870) adopted his father's weaving career as a young man but continued to study Latin and printing. After entering seminary, he began preaching retreats and giving missions. He published and distributed religious literature and founded the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He was appointed archbishop of Cuba but was called back to Spain to be Queen Isabella II's confessor. He resumed publishing until the revolution of 1868 sent him into exile. 

 

This Week in Jesuit History

 

• October 18, 1553: A theological course was opened in our college in Lisbon; 400 students were at once enrolled. 
• October 19, 1588: At Munster, in Westphalia, the Society opens a college, in spite of an outcry raised locally by some of the Protestants. 
• October 20, 1763: In a pastoral letter read in all his churches, the Archbishop of Paris expressed his bitter regret at the suppression of the Society in France. He described it as a veritable calamity for his country. 
• October 21, 1568: Fr. Robert Parsons was elected Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He resigned his Fellowship in 1574. 
• October 22, 1870: In France, Garibaldi and his men drove the Jesuits from the Colleges of Dole and Mont Roland. 
• October 23, 1767: The Jesuits who had been kept prisoners in their college in Santiago, Chile, for almost two months were led forth to exile. In all 360 Jesuits of the Chile Province were shipped to Europe as exiles. 
• October 24, 1759: 133 members of the Society, banished from Portugal and put ashore at Civita Vecchia, were most kindly received by Clement XIII and by the religious communities, especially the Dominicans.