Homilies & Thoughts

A person who tells a lie must carry the weight of both the truth and the lie. First comes the story. Then comes the detail that has to match the story. Then more details. The mind has to work faster than the conversation constructing a more and more elaborate façade.

Jesus knows that hidden labor. He uses the word “burdened,” a verb. We are actively being weighed down and carrying something. He is speaking about the work of carrying the weight that stays with a person after a choice has been made. It is what stays with us after the moment has passed.

The first reading places us in the home of a woman in Shunem who recognizes Elisha as a holy man of God. She urges him to dine with her, and then, seeing his frequent travels, she and her husband prepare and furnish a small room for him on the roof. In this simple but deliberate act, she makes space in her home for the servant of God, and in doing so, she makes room for God himself.

The Lord’s words first sound like a message of comfort to the disciples: “Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.” The Twelve needed that reassurance. Jesus had sent them out to preach the Good News, but their mission had not been easy. They encountered rejection. People spoke against them, mocked them, and even accused them of being in league with evil spirits. In the face of those attacks, Jesus tells them not to be afraid. The truth will not remain hidden forever. The lies spoken against them will be exposed, and God’s justice will prevail.