What Is Hidden Shall Be Known
Saturday, July 12th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
In today’s Gospel, we hear Jesus’ beautiful words to His twelve Apostles—the first priests and bishops of the Catholic Church—when He was sending them out with authority over demons and power to heal the sick. Jesus warned the Apostles that they should expect the same treatment that He Himself received during His earthly ministry, namely slander, rejection, persecution, and even martyrdom. However, Our Lord told them to not fear those who would persecute them: “For nothing is covered that shall not be revealed: nor hid, that shall not be known” (Mt 10:26 DRB).
In writing about this Gospel passage, St. John Chrysostom connected Jesus’ consoling promise with His warning that the Apostles would be persecuted like their Master. Elaborating upon Christ’s words, St. John Chrysostom wrote, “If you are grieved when men revile you, think that in a little time you will be delivered from this evil. They call you indeed impostors, sorcerers, seducers, but have a little patience, and all men shall call you the saviours of the world, when in the course of things you shall be found to have been their benefactors, for men will not judge by their words but by the truth of things” (Catena Aurea).
This points to the truth of the Final Judgment, when Christ will judge all men and the works of all—good and evil—will be revealed to all. The virtuous deeds we have done during our lives—both openly and in secret—will be revealed for the glory of God and for the greater glory of our own souls. Likewise, the hidden sins by which we have hurt others and by which others have hurt us will be revealed in God’s justice.
As St. John Chrysostom said, our time here on earth is a relatively short time in light of eternity. If we bear our sufferings and persecutions patiently, we will build up treasure in Heaven. Our task then is to pray for the conversions of those who persecute us and to offer reparation for these sins, which not only hurt ourselves and our fellow men but also offend our loving God. When we slander or insult another, we are slandering or insulting a fellow human being, made in the image and likeness of God and endowed with a rational intellect and immortal soul.
When these sins are directed toward ordained clergy such as priests, bishops, or the pope—including the Apostles in today’s Gospel—they result in a second sin, that of sacrilege. The Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus includes in its lists of reparations “the insults to which [Christ’s] Vicar on earth and [His] priests are subjected,” recognizing these sins as “outrage[s] committed against” the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
We know that rejection and persecution are inevitable parts of following Christ. Even though these persecutions are everywhere, perhaps even in our own lives, we should not grow bitter. Instead, we should use our righteous anger, which stems from the virtue of justice, to impel us to make acts of reparation and offer sacrifices to atone for the sins committed against Catholics and her clergy.
In today’s Gospel, Our Lord promised that our heavenly Father, Whose Will encompasses even the simple sparrow, directs our lives in accordance with His holy Will. All things work for good in the plan of Divine Providence (cf. Rom 8:28), Whose justice will triumph and bring good out of every evil we experience on earth. May we imitate Him in patiently and humbly bearing our sufferings, even those of rejection and persecution, trusting that He has triumphed over sin and death and will lead us to an eternal reward for our faithfulness.
Heart of Jesus, Salvation of those who hope in Thee, have mercy on us.
Excellent meditation.. thank you
Beautiful and very profound as usual.