A Sunday Thought About Facing the Truth to Start the Week Off Right
Many of us don't like to face the truth about ourselves. And who can blame us? After all, just read what the saints say about themselves. Hardly complimentary. So when it comes to you and me (all you saints out there excepted), you can imagine what you'll find if you honestly face the truth about yourself.
Of course, doing that may likely not come naturally these days. After all, for the most part, nobody commits sin anymore - at least not serious sins - or so we think. We've all convinced ourselves that if we haven't killed anyone in the last 24 hours, we're OK. Hey, I'm not a bad guy. We're all pretty nice when we think about it, aren't we? Heck, most Catholic churches only offer the Sacrament of Confession once a week for an hour or so. Doesn't that prove that there just aren't that many sins out there?
There was a time when people did face the truth about themselves. When they sinned they knew it. They didn't try to soft-pedal their sins. Was it better that they sinned and knew they sinned? Well, it wasn't better that they sinned, or course; but it definitely was better that they knew it. They faced the truth about themselves.
For example, I was just reading a really enlightening piece about St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, who lived in the 13th century and whose feast we celebrated last week. She was not only holy, but intellectually sharp. Among her other accomplishments, she served as architect on construction projects, exhibiting a distinctive style. It’s not known how she obtained this skill. She was also known to have a mastery of languages and was so good at teaching languages and all other subjects that her philandering husband, King Dinis, asked her to educate not only their two children but his various bastards. Today, she is most remembered as an “Angel of Peace,” having involved herself in the various disputes of the day, some typical of the Middle Ages, one in particular a civil war in Portugal. More than once, she traveled to the field of battle and interposed herself between the contending armies to stop the hostilities. Little is written about her in English, so she is not so well known and regarded here as in Portugal and other European countries.
But to our current point about facing the truth, her husband knew his philandering was wrong and wasn't afraid to admit it. (For her part, St Elizabeth, while not excusing her husbands dalliances, remained faithful to him and persisted in fulfilling her duty as Queen of her people.) As an accomplished poet the King wrote tenderly and admiringly of his wife, the Queen, on a number of occasions. For example:
I don't know how to justify myself to my lady,
Should God lead me to stand before her eyes;
Once I'm before her she will adjudge me
Her betrayer, and with plenty of reason.
On another occasion, he wrote:
Seeing as God made you without peer
In goodness of heart and goodness of speech,
Nor is your equal anywhere to be found,
My love, my lady, I hereby tell you:
Had God desired to ordain it so,
You would have made a great king.
Again, without excusing his sins, isn't it impressive and refreshing to read such words - someone facing the truth about themselves; someone who, having recognized his faults, rather than wallow in self-pity turns away from himself and praises the good in his wife?
St Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for us. By your intercession, help us to face the truth about ourselves, seeking God's forgiveness when we fail to live as we ought; and may we share whatever talents God has given us as generously as you shared yours.
Of course, doing that may likely not come naturally these days. After all, for the most part, nobody commits sin anymore - at least not serious sins - or so we think. We've all convinced ourselves that if we haven't killed anyone in the last 24 hours, we're OK. Hey, I'm not a bad guy. We're all pretty nice when we think about it, aren't we? Heck, most Catholic churches only offer the Sacrament of Confession once a week for an hour or so. Doesn't that prove that there just aren't that many sins out there?
There was a time when people did face the truth about themselves. When they sinned they knew it. They didn't try to soft-pedal their sins. Was it better that they sinned and knew they sinned? Well, it wasn't better that they sinned, or course; but it definitely was better that they knew it. They faced the truth about themselves.
For example, I was just reading a really enlightening piece about St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, who lived in the 13th century and whose feast we celebrated last week. She was not only holy, but intellectually sharp. Among her other accomplishments, she served as architect on construction projects, exhibiting a distinctive style. It’s not known how she obtained this skill. She was also known to have a mastery of languages and was so good at teaching languages and all other subjects that her philandering husband, King Dinis, asked her to educate not only their two children but his various bastards. Today, she is most remembered as an “Angel of Peace,” having involved herself in the various disputes of the day, some typical of the Middle Ages, one in particular a civil war in Portugal. More than once, she traveled to the field of battle and interposed herself between the contending armies to stop the hostilities. Little is written about her in English, so she is not so well known and regarded here as in Portugal and other European countries.
But to our current point about facing the truth, her husband knew his philandering was wrong and wasn't afraid to admit it. (For her part, St Elizabeth, while not excusing her husbands dalliances, remained faithful to him and persisted in fulfilling her duty as Queen of her people.) As an accomplished poet the King wrote tenderly and admiringly of his wife, the Queen, on a number of occasions. For example:
I don't know how to justify myself to my lady,
Should God lead me to stand before her eyes;
Once I'm before her she will adjudge me
Her betrayer, and with plenty of reason.
On another occasion, he wrote:
Seeing as God made you without peer
In goodness of heart and goodness of speech,
Nor is your equal anywhere to be found,
My love, my lady, I hereby tell you:
Had God desired to ordain it so,
You would have made a great king.
Again, without excusing his sins, isn't it impressive and refreshing to read such words - someone facing the truth about themselves; someone who, having recognized his faults, rather than wallow in self-pity turns away from himself and praises the good in his wife?
St Elizabeth of Portugal, pray for us. By your intercession, help us to face the truth about ourselves, seeking God's forgiveness when we fail to live as we ought; and may we share whatever talents God has given us as generously as you shared yours.
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