Word of Truth

One of the great Saturday Night Live comedians was Dana Carvey. A favorite character was the Church Lady. An evangelical figure that was convinced that most things were the works of Satan. Whenever the Church Lady sensed a questionable attribute or action, the question was posed, "Could it be Satan? It was hysterical but in some ways more true than simply comedy.

The Paschal Mystery is the focus of the work of Jesus and the center of our lives. Because of the works of Jesus the Christ we possess Salvation and Peace through the dying and rising of Jesus. In John's Gospel Jesus prays that his Disciples, and really all of us, have oneness with the Father, just as Jesus has oneness with the Father. Now understand that Jesus is alluded to much more than a good solid friendship here. Communion with God implies a relationship by which we are embrace by His mercy and love, and participate in His wisdom and grace. We respond then with faith and faithfulness. Jesus prays that God will guard and protect all that come to new life through the Paschal Mystery. While we might be weak, we can become strong through the word of truth.

Christians are not taken out of the world, but we remain part of the human family. Our lifestyle though is wholly directed to a virtuous life. Truth and truthfulness are at the crux of our journey. A commentator the other day was speaking about politicians, and observed that there are so few good leaders anymore. Good people tend to stay out of politics the man observed. How sad it is to look at an arena of life, that of politics, and declare it a wasteland.

Could it be Satan? Well certainly Sin and Evil leads people to make choices for selfish or wrong reasons. The Paschal Mystery says that we should not allow our lives to be vulnerable to Evil. Yes we skin our spiritual knees and bump heads with each other, by the mystery we celebrate brings us the fullness of God's love and grace in the midst of the world's challenges. Part of our response is to seek truth. Look to what is good and proper, and work to establish justice and peace.

Jesus says to us today, "take care." We can learn this phrase and use it and mean it. Or the long phrase that gives us pause for thought would be, "the peace of Christ be with you."