The best sat nav

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how we find direction in life. Is it best to assume that we are in control of where we are going, or should we look elsewhere?

Readings for Saturday of week 33 of Ordinary Time: 1 Maccabees 6.1-13; Psalm 9.2-4, 6, 16, 19; Luke 20.27-40

All of us will have the experience of having got lost at one time or another. We think we know where we are going, but at some point the realisation dawns that we have taken a wrong turn and now have no idea where we are. In the days before sat nav it was a lot easier to make navigation errors. Technology, though, is not fool-proof; it’s only as good as the information that’s put in, and of course the battery can always die at the crucial moment!

In our readings today we see people who thought they were in control. They thought they knew it all, and were certain of the direction they were going. Ultimately, however, they came to realise that they had got it wrong, and were quite lost. In the passage from 1 Maccabees we see King Antiochus finally seeing the error of his ways. He realises that the loss of Judah through the Jewish revolt was because of “the evils I did in Jerusalem”, as he puts it. He had oppressed the people and despoiled the Temple. Previously seeing himself as a powerful and all-conquering ruler, he now cuts a deeply tragic figure. In the Gospel, the Sadducees think they have it all figured out. They try to rubbish the idea of a resurrection with their silly question about who would be married to whom in the next life. Jesus challenges their worldview, telling them that the resurrection life will be dramatically different to this one. The Sadducees are shown to be hopelessly lost, having travelled up a blind alley.

When we acknowledge that we are not in control, that we often don’t know the way ahead or destination, then it frees us to trust in God. He is the best sat nav we could ever hope for, the one who, if we let him, will lead us into all truth.