The truth will be hard to see

The blindness which comes over us when we are presented with evidence of the truth is a theme of the texts today from the Roman Catholic Lectionary.  The passage from the Book of Jeremiah, the section described by Friar Jude Winkler as his "confessions", reveals that the prophet is aware of the rejection of his pleadings for the people of Israel to return to the practices of trust in the Lord. His confidence that the Lord will be with him in his trial is well placed, yet this Presence will see him through even more distress and pain. The Gospel of John tells of Jesus pointing out to the religious authorities that the deeds He has done in public are those of One from God, in fact One who is a Son of God. His persecutors cannot get beyond the radical change Jesus calls them to consider in their lives and see Him as a blasphemer who threatens the status quo. The Gospel indicates that some in the region where John was baptizing and to where Jesus has retreated could see that the words of John about Him were true. The path of His disciple will be like His path and the disciple will live with the rejection and the deep peace of those who begin to agree that "everything John said about this man was true" (John 10:41)