How courageous are you in telling the truth even if it would hurt you or your listener? - Daily Reflections August 26,2013

THE TRUTH HURTS BUT HEALS   Have you ever heard of a doctor who commits murder? How can someone, who had made an oath to preserve and protect life, do otherwise? Or a lawyer who exerts every effort to free his guilty client? We seem to be understanding and permissive of them. But not Jesus.        In today’s Gospel, He exposes the seven “woes” against the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. He does not let them get away with their hypocrisy. The first three woes are, namely, how they cause people to miss the Kingdom; how they convert people but make them worse than before; and their being blind guides by stressing focus on offerings and things rather than on what can really save them. The three woes were meant to let the Pharisees know that Jesus knows what they were really doing.        The words of Jesus were strong. He earned the ire of the teachers and Pharisees, which later turned into a plot to kill Him. Jesus hated hypocrites. Truth was one of His main message. The Pharisees wittingly or unwittingly were committing a lot of deceptions. The Jews were being damaged both personally and spiritually. Jesus could not endure that. He had to speak the Word of God. He had to speak the Truth!        Truth hurts, as they say, but it also frees and heals. The more we hide  the truth, the more painful it is when revealed. Jesus was willing to suffer the consequences of proclaiming the truth to the teachers and the Pharisees.        I also feel this way whenever I stand before a congregation to deliver a homily. Homilies are supposed to share the truth about God and His message, and there are times when the message is unpopular and painful. We need to tell the people that it is not OK to curse, lie, steal, hurt, be unforgiving, have premarital and extramarital affairs, etc. We know that it will hurt them initially, but if they listen to and follow the truth, it will set them free and eventually heal them. If we really care for them, we must take courage to tell them the truth. Jesus cared for the teachers and Pharisees, too. Jesus will always proclaim the truth. He is the Truth! Fr. Benny Tuazon   REFLECTION QUESTION: How courageous are you in telling the truth even if it would hurt you or your listener?   Grant me courage, Lord, to always be on the side of truth, not only in word but mostly in deed.