Happy Lent, folks! The holy day that smudges us with ashes and kicks us in the teeth with the friendly reminder that we’re all just dust waiting to blow away. Kurt Vonnegut said: “We are here on Earth to fart around” — dust in the wind indeed. The vicissitudes of life give us cause to laugh and to cry, and generally speaking, we’re all just trying to keep our heads above the waters, whether those of the baptism or those of the deluge — they often are one and the same. And out of these waters of the primordial chaos, Jesus emerges, sneaking into our lives like a thief in the night — not to steal the T.V., but to pull off an even bigger heist — snatching our souls from the jaws of the beast. Jesus first painted himself as a thief in the night when He was accused of being in cahoots with the devil on account of His exorcism skills. “What threat would Beezlebub be if he were divided against himself?” He asks (I paraphrase). But the hold of the evil one on Jesus’ nation, and our nations, is stronger than that — and to release the captives, a higher power is necessary: the Spirit of God. The implications are big: “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Mt. 12:28). Surely the coming of the Kingdom should be so obvious that it doesn’t need to be inferred by a couple exorcisms here and there? But all those many years ago, Our Lord said: “The kingdom of God will not come with observable signs. Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ For you see, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Lk. 20:20-21). The Kingdom had already come — Jesus had snuck in like a thief in the night, plundering the haunt of demons (Rev. 18:2), and He was onwards and upwards to the eternal and blessed business of carrying off the captive damned (Eph. 4:8) to the mansions of salvation (Jn. 14:2). “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.” (Mt. 12:29). This He did in the desert, fasting for 40 days and 40 nights after His Messianic baptism. Out there, 40 days in the unforgiving sand and baked clay of the desert, Christ is dodging Satan’s cheap tricks, tying up the jerk who’s been sitting on our souls ever since we screwed up the gig in the Garden Temple. The Master of the Temple, which had been cut off from man by the flaming sword and the frightful cherubim, took that spinning spiritual sword and descended upon those cherubim from His holy habitation down to the darkness of our world. “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness did not comprehended…the true Light, which enlightens every man that comes into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not." (Jn. 1:4-5, 9-10). To what end? That we may celebrate Eucharist, that is, thanksgiving: “Give thanks to the Father, Who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col. 1:12-13). All this accomplished under the cover of darkness. And so it’s a heist: “Death was weeping for her, even for Sheol, when he saw that her treasury was emptied. And he said, Who, then, has plundered your riches?” (St. Ephrem the Syrian, Nisibene Hymns, Hymn 37). The answer: Our Lord, slumming it in hell to yank us out and bring us to Heaven. Mary, the God-bearer, knew this mystery from the start and she kept this whole crazy thing quiet in her heart (Luke 2:19). She knew her Kid was up to something so special she had to stay mum not to jinx it. It is only natural to protect and, yes, hide, that which is most precious to us. Perhaps God does the same. The Parable says: “The kingdom [of God] is like a man who had a treasure hidden in his field but did not know it” (Mt. 13:44, Gos. Thom. 109). In fact, that treasure of God may be us — man is, after all, God’s glory, according to St. Paul (1 Cor. 11:7) — lost in our own field (Gen. 1:26-28), buried under our own junk, and Christ’s digging us out of the deathly landfill like a grave robber. Night’s when thieves do their thing, and Jesus? Darkness is where you’ll find Him: “The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness." (1 Kgs. 8:12). It is in the twilight of Gethsemane where He enters into His dark night of the soul, weeping blood. It’s under this darkness that He is discovered and tried — Judas with his two-faced kiss; the temple guards’ torches flickering like flashing statie lights; a quickie kangaroo court trial while everybody else is snoring. But did they know that they dared to convene the courts to try the very Judge Himself? In fact, it was He who tried them, and more: Our Lord said that the hour of the power darkness (Lk. 22:35) was in fact the hour of the Great Judgment: “Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw everyone to Myself.” (Jn. 12:31-32). Indeed, when He was “lifted up”, He was crucified a bandit among bandits, “numbered with the transgressors” (Is. 15:12). And though it was in the middle of the day, the sun did not give its light, and night covered the land (Am. 8:9, Jl. 2:31, Mt. 27:45). And so when He was lifted up, He indeed drew every man to Himself — under the cover of darkness, like a thief in the night. Our Lord taught that this supernatural night was in fact the Judgment of the world, and so it is paradoxically the Day of the Lord (Acts 17:31), coming as promised like a thief in the night (1 Thess. 4:2). The Judge in His Day of Judgment declared: “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light — because their deeds were evil.” (Jn. 3:19). And what sentence does He pass on the evildoers? “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23:34). Why? “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (Jn. 3:17). This ain’t just a guy dying — He’s breaking into hell, kicking the door down, and dragging us out with Him to our salvation, resurrection, and ascension (Eph. 2:6). But His descent into Hades truly began when He emerged from heaven into the hellscape of our own world — born of Mary, entering into our suffering; baptized by John, beginning the sacrificial ministry of the Great High Priest in the desert of darkness. And so we, born first of woman, then born again in baptism, follow Him there. Lent’s 40 days of staring at our crap — sins, screw-ups, that black cloud over our heads and that dark secret in our hearts we never want to think, let alone talk, about — is, frankly, a lot. But Christ is lurking, like a prowling thief, in these shadows of ours, unconquerable and at the ready: “The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1:5). Lent is about finding the Lord in the thick darkness, for we cannot of our own power dispel that darkness — anyone who’s been through the 12 Steps can tell you that. But the Lord doesn’t wait for us to clean up our act before He comes to us. That’s not what Lent is about. Lent is waking up and realizing that He broke in while we were fast asleep and He has already bound the “strong man” who oppresses us. “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Eph. 5:14). Christ, our Divine Thief, is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. That great heist which He accomplished from the foundation of the earth (Is. 40:21, 1 Pt. 1:20, Rev. 13:8), and which He first began to reveal in His post-baptismal desert fast, continues today and tomorrow — in us. In the Church, His Body, the broken bread of thanks breaks into the night of avarice and strife, and the divine wine of mercy pours into the darkness of condemnation and alienation. The keys of the knowledge which sets us free (Lk. 11:52, Jn. 8:32) are smuggled in through these Eucharistic elements and Our Lord — body, blood, soul, and divinity (CCC 1374) — steals us away, like a thief in the night, from our prison of darkness and delivers us into the saving light of His glorious Day. Support My Ministry with a One-Time Donation HereCheck out my book “Faith Working Through Love Vol. I”ICYMI: Interview on “What’s the Point Anyway?” Podcast Upcoming Concerts:3/4. Mardi Gras Bash with Jelly Roll Horns, PA Club, Oak Bluffs, MA. 7-10pm. 3/5. Live at the Newes from America, Edgartown, MA. 5-8pm. 3/7. Live at Black Dog Tavern, Tisbury, MA. 6-8pm. 3/9. Music Ministry at Chilmark Community Church, Chilmark, MA. 9-10am. 3/12. Live at the Newes from America, Edgartown, MA. 5-8pm. 3/16. Music Ministry at Chilmark Community Church, Chilmark, MA. 9-10am. 3/17. St. Paddy’s Day with Seán McMahon & the Agreeable Men at Offshore Ale, Oak Bluffs, MA. 5-7pm. 3/17. St. Paddy’s Day Bash with Seán McMahon, Rose Guerin, & the Agreeable Men at the Ritz Cafe, Oak Bluffs, MA. 8-10pm. 3/19. Live at the Newes from America, Edgartown, MA. 5-8pm. 3/23. Music Ministry at Chilmark Community Church, Chilmark, MA. 9-10am. 3/26. Live at the Newes from America, Edgartown, MA. 5-8pm. 3/28. Live at Black Dog Tavern, Tisbury, MA. 6-8pm. 3/29. Live at Black Dog Cafe, Tisbury, MA. 6-8pm. 3/30. Music Ministry at Chilmark Community Church, Chilmark, MA. 9-10am. Check out my past releases:Lofi Beats for Study, Dishwashing, and Dance Amazing Grace: Traditional Hymns Vol. I Our Father: Original Christian Songs Vol. I Sean & Katie McMahon: Resonate Tidwell’s Treasure: Slow! Children Crossing Tidwell’s Treasure: Radical Shift Song of the Week: “Better Angels” (listen below)...Keep reading with a 7-day free trialSubscribe to Seán McMahon to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives. A subscription gets you:
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Wednesday, March 5, 2025
The Thief Who Sets Us Free
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