You Cannot Fool God
“There is nothing hidden except to be made visible;
nothing is secret except to come to light.
Anyone who has ears to hear ought to hear.” (Mk 4:22-23)
“You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” This quote, widely attributed to Abraham Lincoln, is a vivid reminder of something that Jesus said in today’s Gospel. Basically, he stated, you cannot fool God. “Nothing is secret except to come to light.”
We often think that we have pulled the wool over people’s eyes. Our tainted human nature often leads us to live lives of deceit. However, we cannot keep our deceit from being uncovered. Even if we somehow manage to do so on this earth — though that is virtually impossible — we will never get away with it at the end of our days for God’s light is stronger that any deceit and we will be found out.
Better, then, to live in honesty and integrity rather than in darkness and deceit.
We often become deceitful because we cannot face the consequences of our actions or we cannot face ourselves. Rather than admitting our faults, our mistakes, and our failings, we construct convenient “cover” stories.
God does not want us to live that way.
He gives us a wonderful remedy in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There, the light of God’s merciful love shines in the soul of the sinner. There, the fear is chased away by love. There, the anguish is replaced with peace. There, a wounded person is once again made whole.
Do not live in fear. Do not live a lie. Do not live in the darkness of sin. Instead, embrace the light. You will rejoice when you do.
FAITH ACTION: Examine your conscience today and determine if you need to go to confession in the near future.