You have searched me and you know me, Lord.--Psalm 139:1
Mass readings: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13 / Matthew 23:27-32
A friend recently recalled these words from her father: ''Don't do anything you'd be ashamed to see on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow.'' If you read the papers, it seems like celebrities and politicians and business tycoons routinely ignore this advice. Except for the media scrutiny, though, am I really so different? Would I like everyone I know to hear everything I say? To read all my e-mail? Would I enjoy being the subject of a ''tell-all'' biography?
I've not always measured up to the standards of my friend's father. Today's Gospel tells me, though, that the Lord expects me to try. There's nothing Jesus condemns more frequently than hypocrisy, or praises more often than humility. The humble are simple and transparent -- they have nothing to fear from the front page.
Prayer: Lord, give me the grace to live a life with nothing to hide.