October 3, 2020

A popular new phrase that people have been using to communicate genuineness is “the real deal” – this person is the real deal because he is true to his word, or, that person is the real deal because she never lets you down, etc.  And while it is excellent that there is an expression out there that helps to identify integrity when we see it, we all know that there is one and only one “real deal” whose words and actions are always in harmony.  This Jesus, who is the Word, is real in the sense that to encounter him is to encounter the truth.  His deep meaning as a person is not mediated by an ideology, a persona, a bank account, or a title.  Rather, being stripped down to his core, broken open on the Cross, and presented for all to see – as he is! – makes him the definitive “real deal.”  There is no escape from his fundamental identity, no confusion about what his life means, no possibility of missing the point of his journey.  The best way for us to conform ourselves to “the real deal” par excellence is to spend time with his “real presence” – in scripture, in the liturgy, with the community of believers, and most especially in the eucharist.  By doing so, we too are guaranteed to become trusting children of the Father – the read deal in our own right.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica!