Seeking Truth
The coincidence of today’s Mass readings is revealing. The 600,000 men (not counting their families) who go up from Rameses to Succoth represent the truth-and-freedom-seekers of all times, vigorously on the march (Exodus 12.37ff.). What happens, though, when liberating Truth turns up in person? People plot against him, want him out of the way, ‘discussing how to destroy him’ (Matthew 12.14ff.).
It is an aspect of our fallen nature at once tragic and absurd: the tendency consistently to miss our goal and forfeit homecoming, opting instead for fruitless gyrovaguery. Great attention is needed in this area. Setting out from a given captivity is one thing; remembering what the journey’s destination is (and what freedom is like) is another.
