Tuesday of the Eighth
Week in Ordinary Time
(I Peter 1:10-16; Mark 10:28-31)
Novelist Ann Lamott writes of Rosie, a young tennis player
who is prone to cheat. Rosie calls balls
that hit the line “out” in order not to lose a point. A man sees her doing this and tells her
so. But more than correcting her, he
befriends Rosie and admits, “I did what you did....I cheated.” The young player eventually recognizes her
fault and overcompensates. She starts calling
balls that go beyond the line “in” so as not to appear dishonest. But then Rosie summons the courage to call all
the shots as she sees them. One day during
a match her friend sees Rosie calling shots correctly and begins to leave. Her mother asks him if he doesn’t want to see
Rosie win. The man answers, “’I already have.’”
In today’s first reading Peter calls the Christian community
to the integrity which the man calls Rosie.
Christians are to give up “the desires of our former ignorance.” In turn, they are to live in accord with the
holiness of God. Honesty needs to be implicit
in everything they do. For this reason
they are to “gird up the loins of (their) mind.” That is, they are not to say
things because they are self-advantageous.
Rather they are always to speak in ways that are true and helpful to
others.
Perhaps more than ever in the communication age we are
inclined to lie. Facebook and other
Internet aps have facilitated the desire to exaggerate if not to fabricate. To initiate a message or image that “goes
viral” fulfills the dreams of many even if it distorts reality. In truth, however, it is just another example
of the oldest sin of pride. In line with
our Christian vocation we should take care not to exaggerate and never to lie
outright.
