The Gospel according to Mark (4:21-25)
He said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be placed under a bushel basket or under a bed, and not to be placed on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light. Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” He also told them, “Take care what you hear. The measure with which you measure will be measured out to you, and still more will be given to you. To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
Reflection: Did you have a favorite hiding place for your most precious possessions as a kid. Mine was a shoe box stuffed way in the back of my closet. If that wasn’t secure enough, I would find a dark corner in the dilapidated garage in our back yard. Either way I felt secure that no one would find my “loot”. In retrospect, both places were not all that secure.
In today’s gospel we hear several clear messages. The one I would like to focus on is verse 22, “For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light.” I believe that it speaks to the way we seem to convince ourselves that there are certain things in our life that are shielded from others and God. Things that cause us shame so we bury them deep in our secret, special hiding place, not necessarily forgotten but out of sight. We try to fool ourselves into thinking that they are so well hidden no one knows therefore no one gets hurt. But the truth is that God is everywhere and knows everything. And as far as not hurting anyone, those things that cause us shame are usually sin and sin hurts everyone.
And to make matters worse, while carrying sin around, we can have the audacity to critique and judge others harshly. When will we accept the fact that we are only fooling ourselves and that sin corrupts us first then affects all our relationships including with God. The good news is, God knows our plight and he is patient, merciful, and forgiving. He has been dealing with this challenge for a loooooong time. The light of the world came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. He came to conquer the ravages of sin including death. However, we still have to make the choice to live in the light. And for the times we fall into the darkness, we must have the courage and fidelity to get up and walk back into the light and reconcile the damage we caused.
Like the father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, Our Father waits, looking, longing for our return.
Action of the Day: Hopefully we are availing ourselves of the beautiful Sacrament of Reconciliation. What I would like to suggest is to apply another reminder in today’s gospel. Let’s all focus taking care of our own house (our soul) and not judging others harshly. Pray that everyone, anyone struggling with sin see, experience the light of redemption and salvation.
Audio Reflection:
DEACON5 