Daily Retreat 01/04/06

2006 Jan 4 Wed: Elizabeth Ann Seton, r M

1 Jn 3:7-10/Ps 97(98)/John 1:35-42

From today’s readings: " Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil.... All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.... We have found the Messiah!"

Unraveling the Devil’s works

The Devil is also known as "the Deceiver" - he lurks in lies and eclipses truth with the darkness of dishonesty. In contrast, Jesus is the true Light of the world (John 1:9), dispelling the darkness of sin and error, untangling the mess of deception and confusion. The clarity of this radical opposition is bluntly expressed time after time in the works of St. John.

The tendency of modern man, however, is to avoid absolutes, insisting that there is no black and white - only varying shades of grey. Granted, many moral issues are indeed complex, but it is precisely the complexity of these issues that calls for a clarifying examination in Christ’s light.

The Son of God was revealed precisely to unravel and destroy all the Deceiver’s deceptions, so whenever we’re faced with the confusion of choices, you and I need to pray, study and seek the illumination of the eternal Truth of Christ. In fact, many (if not most) of us are at least vaguely suspicious that we continue to tolerate some self-deception in various areas of our lives - NOW is the time to pierce the fogginess of these secret issues with the piercing light of the Truth of Christ!