Embracing a more transparent life
Luke 12:1-4
At that time: So many
people were crowding together that they
were trampling one another underfoot. Jesus began to speak, first to his
disciples, “Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not
be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the
light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on
the housetops."
Everyone loves to hear a
secret. What is a secret? It’s a juicy piece of information that only
you know, or only a few people know.
Raise your hand if you like to hear secrets. We all do!
Do you want to hear a secret? Did
you know that Mrs. B was a movie star before she became a Catholic school
principal?? I’m just kidding; that’s not
really true. I just made that up. But that’s an example of a secret – something
that no one else knows. Now, do you know
the only thing better than knowing a secret?
It’s telling a secret; sharing that secret knowledge with someone
else. Are you supposed to share a
secret? NO! But we secretly love to, don’t we? Fr. Andrew studied in Rome, Italy, and he
told me once that a “Roman secret” is something that you only tell one person
at a time. Card tricks are supposed to
be secrets because a good magician never tells his secrets. But I love to tell people how to do card
tricks when I go to their homes for supper.
The only thing better than knowing a secret is sharing that secret.
Do you
know someone else who loves to share secrets?
It’s Jesus! He says in the gospel
today: “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that
will not be known.” Wow! Do you think we have any secrets that Jesus
does not know? I don’t think so! He knows everything, even our secrets. And guess what will happen in heaven? Jesus will share all those secrets with
everyone! I gotta tell you Luke 12 is
one of the most frightening passages in the whole Bible for me: that there will
be no secrets in heaven. The only thing
better than knowing a secret is sharing that secret. All secrets will be shared in heaven.
Do you
know why Catholics have to go to confession?
Confession is practicing telling our secrets sins to another person, a
priest. Why do we have to tell another
person our sins? Because in heaven
everyone will know all your secret sins anyway!
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed.” Some people say, “I don’t need to confess my
sins to a priest because I just tell God.
My sins are only between me and God.”
But do you think those sins will stay a secret forever? Not at all: in heaven all secrets will be
shouted from the rooftops. A
t least that
is what Jesus says in the gospel today.
When you confess your secret sins to a priest, you’re getting ready for
the day everyone else will know those sins, too. Actually, that’s why we do everything we do
in the Catholic Church: to get ready for heaven.
Boys and girls, everyone loves to hear
a secret and everyone loves to tell a secret.
So does God! Think about that
next time you try to do something “in secret.”
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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