Those of you in the Southern USA will recognize the phrase at the top of my reflection. “Bless Your Heart” began as a sincere way of telling someone how caring they are. But it has morphed over the decades as a way to give a sort of back handed swipe at someone when you don’t want to give them the truth straight out. It’s like wanting to remark how someone has gained weight but rather than tell them so directly, you might say something like, “Apparently baggy pants are back in style, bless your heart”. Or maybe a neighbor’s lasagna is a bit on the over-cooked side and you comment how “I just love the way you made crunchy lasagna noodles, bless your heart.”
We sometimes shy away from the truth in order to spare people’s feelings. Or maybe to get in an undercover jab at them. The term “Courtesy Bias” is used in this situation as well. It means the tendency for people to offer an opinion that is more socially acceptable than their true beliefs. In essence, when you fall prey to courtesy bias, you’re telling someone what you think they want to hear. At the risk of becoming a bit political here, I would like to use Pope Francis’ recent document regarding blessing same sex unions. For those of you who are not aware, the Vatican with the Pope’s support, has Ok’d for priests to bless same-sex couples. There is some verbiage about not making it look like a ceremony but, in the end, the Church has made it OK to put its seal of approval on behaviors expressly forbidden in the Gospels. Why? Well, it seems to me, that the Pope is looking to placate popular culture. To make the Church seem like it is keeping up with the times. Displaying a moral position propagated by the prevailing culture. Rather than guiding the flock in an unpopular, but necessary for salvation, direction. The truth is not always popular and can be downright divisive. Our role as a Church is to stay fixated on what Jesus taught and the truth that the Church has always taught. Pray for the Church and for the Pope. We will weather this storm as the Church has always done.
In today’s first reading from Malachi, the prophet is writing around the time of when Nehemiah has come back to Jerusalem after exile in Babylon to help lead the reconstruction of the temple. What Malachi and Nehemiah find is a people moving away from the teachings of the Father. They are offering sacrifices to God but they are offering inferior items (such as what Cain got in trouble for), adultery, divorcing spouses in order to marry those who worship pagan gods. And employers cheating their workers.
Worse yet are the priests from the tribe of Levi. Rather than speaking the truth to the people to save their eternal souls, they justify these immoral acts in their sermons and teachings. This is not what God wants from His people. In fact He tells His people, through Malachi, of the outcome of their behavior:
“Yes, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts.
But who will endure the day of his coming?
And who can stand when he appears?
For he is like the refiner’s fire,
or like the fuller’s lye.
He will sit refining and purifying silver,
and he will purify the sons of Levi,
Refining them like gold or like silver
that they may offer due sacrifice to the LORD.”
In other words, the day of reckoning will be upon them, without them have foreknowledge of what is to come. We know the story of John the Baptist who is a first rate example of someone who definitely did not practice Culture Bias. King Herod had married his brother’s wife, Herodias. It was against Jewish law to do so. Now, JTB could have said something like, “Well Herod, it looks like you won’t have to get new monograms for the bath towels, bless your heart.” Nope, he came right out and proclaimed publicly the Herod-Herodias show should not be making the rounds at the palace. And he lost his head over it. The truth has a way of doing that sometimes.
Malachi finishes today’s portion by telling the people that God will be sending the prophet Elijah to them to turn the hearts of the Fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their Fathers. In other words, to set straight the word of God in the families. To once again have Fathers, Mothers, Sons and Daughters following God’s commands. “Lest I come and strike the land with doom.”
We know from last week’s readings that Elijah has returned in the form of John the Baptist. That the day of reckoning is upon us now. We are all being tried by fire, being purified like silver. Or under the fuller’s lye making white the clothes of our soul. Will we be able to plainly speak the truth of the Church or try to soften the blow in order to maintain our place with the prevailing culture? Maybe with a line something like, “I just love the way you have summarized the 10 commandments by leaving out those pesky ones like 6, 7, 8 and 9…Bless Your Heart.”
Merry Christmas to all the ACM readers, to Mary, Father Peter, Bob, Fred, Analise and Bob. May you all have a blessed holiday and New Year’s. Looking forward to whatever 2024 brings.
