Jesus is the light of the world.  To follow him means not to walk in the dark, in lies, but to have the light of life, the truth.

Jesus warns his hearers about blindness and the darkness that comes with it.  It is, of course, about spiritual blindness, about not seeing God’s truths.  Such blindness means lies, greed, hatred, stubbornness, corruption, lack of faith and understanding.

The first example that Jesus uses has to do with the risks there are when the blind leads the blind.  It seems that the second deals with the blindness of a student who thinks he knows as much as the teacher.  Jesus does not say it, but there is the saying that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

The third example lays bare the lies, the hypocrisy, the blindness of those who do not see their huge faults.  Yet they do not fail to see and to want to correct others’ smallest faults.

And the fourth example teaches how to avoid blindness.  Or to be able to tell who are good and who are bad.  We know for sure who are good by the good they yield.  We know, too, who are bad by the bad things that come out of them.  It all hinges on what is stored in the heart.  That is to say, out of the goodness that is in one’s heart comes what is good.  And out of wickedness comes what is bad.

Jesus does not want us caught in webs of lies.

Maybe we Christians think that these teachings are for the Pharisees.  But the Gospels are here to teach us.  And Luke says he wants the disciple to know the truth, the firmness, of the teachings the disciple has received.

Hence, Jesus warns us who hear him today, who are disciples, about blindness.  About the lies and more evils that are associated with it.  For there are those of us whom fake news and lies fool.  There are those, too, who peddle “alternative facts.”

And we are not free from pride.  This and our ambitions can blind us to our ignorance.  They can also make us feel we know more than others and are better than them.

Yes, we Christians, more than others, should store goodness in our hearts.  And this means, first of all, to listen to the Holy Spirit.  For from him come but truths, not lies, and he teaches us all things (Jn 14, 16; 1 Jn 2, 27).

Of course, truth is crucial.  That is so since truth is oneness, goodness, beauty, understanding, cleanness of heart, plainness (TWVDP 38).  The truth draws us out of self-absorption, so that we may reach out of ourselves to the wholly Other.  With the help of almsgiving, prayer and fasting.  So that we may get rid of “spiritual worldliness” (see this also).

And if we are grounded in the truth, and put away all lies, we will be like a house built on solid rock (CRCM II:1. 2).  That is to say, we will be as firm as the one who gives his flesh to eat and his blood to drink.  For happen what may, we can be sure that all will work for good; death will be swallowed up in victory.

Lord Jesus, be our light, so that we may not walk in the dark, in lies.

27 February 2022
8th Sunday in O.T. (C)
Sir 27, 4-7; 1 Cor 15, 54-58; Lk 6, 39-45