27 January 2022
Thursday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time
“For there is nothing hidden except to be made visible; nothing is secret except to come to light,” Jesus says in today’s gospel. In our given context of a world dominated by technology and social media, where every move seems to be recorded and exposed, the words of Jesus may seem like a reference to our society’s fading sense of privacy.
Often, when a famous person falls from grace it is because their human frailty or their human ignorance has been exposed. We want more. We expect more from them. Fame and stardom will often cause us to overlook the humanity of the other. But even in our ordinary lives, we can overlook it in the other or try to hide the humanity within ourselves: not showing our weaknesses, our mistakes, our fears.
Jesus, in all his humanity, invites us to embrace our own. To look with kindness and with healing love at our imperfections, to accept them in ourselves and in those we encounter, to stop hiding our humanity.
This can be daunting, painful even. The Anima Christi, one of St. Ignatius’ favorite prayers, can offer us some encouragement and consolation. Speaking to Jesus, one of the lines reads “within your wounds hide me.” This is the only worthy hiding spot where we become one with God and neighbor.