John 3:19-21 Sunday March 11 Gospel

[goodcatholic]

From this Sunday’s Gospel:
And the judgement is this: though the light has come into the world people have preferred darkness to the light because their deeds were evil.
20 And indeed, everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it, to prevent his actions from being shown up;
21 but whoever does the truth comes out into the light, so that what he is doing may plainly appear as done in God.’

This is such a powerful passage/verse as are many of John’s verses. This verse brought to mind the terrible sin of abuse. How it is kept private and out of the light so the abuser can hide and continue to abuse.
Not that I am perfect but yet I see the importance of us leading transparent lives. Transparent and courageous. Showing the world who we are, warts and all. in this way we give courage to others to be themselves. To stop hiding in the dark.
Yet there are evil forces in our secular world. To be transparent is to be vulnerable. Better to live with some secrets. I feel for the politicians and celebs who get old stories dragged out about their past misdemeanours. Just to discredit and score political points.
Can any of us be truly 100% transparent in this life?

 

[jcrichton]

I think that there’s a difference between transparency and responsibility; own can orchestrate transparency while ignoring/rejecting owning up to their responsibility.

Consider the message against bullying… when an issue arises we find television segments (a few seconds to a few minutes) speaking against bullying… yet, society as a whole celebrates bullying through movies, shows, video, music, games… then there’s the blame game… it seems that everyone but the culprits are responsible for their own behavior–within minutes of some new news casting the question/s come “why?” or “is it a mental disorder?” or “what led him/her to…?”

Jesus Commands that we not swear; that or “yes” or “no” be plain. But it is difficult to be “perfect” and “holy.”

Then there’s the social teaching of capitalizing on the vulnerabilities of others… so who would willingly admit to a secret sin/abuse/crime?

…and while it is true that lately celebrities are being targeted, it is also true that they often get away with murder (Hart to Hart comes to mind), and repeatedly so (current US President’s compulsion to tweet–remember the old adage think before you speak? He refuses to believe that thinking is necessary before plastering the net with his “wisdom”).

Now comes the tough part. Jesus Demanded that His Disciples be more righteous than the Masters of the Laws and the Pharisees/Sadducees. So we must engage the world in as much Truth and transparency as possible–knowing that we are not God, just humble Followers of Christ Called to Holiness!

Maran atha!

Angel

 

[whyeyeman]

Its about confronting the truth in your self. Confronting your own weaknesses so you can overcome them. The truth shall set you free.