Homily: August 27, 2024, Tuesday of the Twenty first week in Ordinary time (Deception)

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 “Let no one deceive you in any way.”

We live in a world full of lies, deception, cheating and empty promises. Fake news, fake products, now even fake identities are going around in the virtual world and destroying life in the real world. People who deceive aim to turn others away from what is real, to believe in what is not real, so that they can take advantage of the ignorant believers for their own profit and gain.

Thus, parents, elders, and guardians would warn the young and vulnerable whom they love and care for, to let no one deceive them and lead them into trouble.

St. Paul particularly loved the Thessalonian church because they were one of the first communities he formed, and they were faithful to his teachings. But they were still young and vulnerable as a faith community, St. Paul knew that they could be easily misled, tempted or influenced to deviate from the ways of the Lord. St. Paul was concerned for their souls, and so he warned them, “Let no one deceive you in any way.”

The early Christian communities believed that the “second coming of the Lord was near”. That sense of urgency helped them focus on their faith and live in preparation for the final judgement. However, communities thereafter, including we today, have lost that sense of urgency and are living as though there will always be a tomorrow. We all know that is not true, we can face death anytime, so let us not deceive ourselves.

Today, we celebrate the feast of St. Monica. We know her as the persevering and patient mother who prayed fervently for thirty-three years for the conversion of her wayward son, who became St. Augustine, doctor of the church.

But did we also know that Monica had her own conversion experience when she was young? When she was a little girl, her parents used to send her to the cellar to bring up the wine.

 While she was at it, she let in the temptation to take small sips of the wine secretly. Over time, she became a heavy drinker, still in secret. Only when she was finally caught by her uncle, she stopped her drinking habit. Shamed by embarrassment, it was the first step in her conversion.

Aren’t we all the same? Our big troubles usually began as small deviations. Our big moral sins usually begin with small venial sins. We believe we will not be caught, and so we continue. We deceive ourselves and we deceive others. Until finally it grows so big and deep that we lose control over it.

St. Paul warns, ‘Let no one deceive you in any way.” I would add… “including yourself”.

The way of deception is to block or hide the truth. So how can we avoid being deceived by ourselves, others or the world?

One of the most effective ways is to always seek the Word of God. In today’s Gospel acclamation, we heard, “The Word of God is living and effective, able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”

My father was someone who reads the Bible almost all the time. And he often consulted scripture texts whenever he needed clear directions to make major decisions. I don’t recall any wrong choices he had ever made in his 71 years of life.

Jesus is the Word, His word is the Truth. Know Jesus, know His word, know the Truth and let no one deceive you in any way.

Amen.


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