Truth For His Guide

Father Mark Gruber

The heading of my blog, Freedom Through Truth, contains these words from Blaise Pascal from the 17th century: “He that takes truth for his guide, and duty for his end, may safely trust to God's providence to lead him aright.”

Our human nature does not want to take truth for our guide.  We want, in our flesh, to be right, and for that to be our truth.  Some say "perception is reality."  But, perception is coloured by emotion, by circumstance, and by the self.  Reality/truth is not so coloured.  Is is.

It is a wise man, and most often a holy man, who actually takes truth for his guide.  Father Mark Gruber strikes me as just such a man, and must be believing in God's providence, for the providence of man is messing with his head.

I invite you to go to "Friends of Father Mark" on Facebook and read about the ill treatment of this faithful and faith filled priest, who first of all stood up to an administration at Saint Vincent College with which he respectfully disagreed.  There you can read about how his career was destroyed because he had the courage of his convictions.  It reminds me of the liberals in both of the lands here in North America, who fight disagreement by squelching it any way they can. 

You can also read how he finally, to protect his reputation and sanity, filed suit against his oppressors.  This past week, he rescinded his suit against them, and they have claimed a victory, as hollow as it is.  To save the bond of confession, he has had to withdraw.  His faithfulness to his vocation as a priest, including the seal of confession was too much for him to allow a penitent to be deposed in this vile charade.

Man's perfidy never ceases to amaze me, my own included.  To think that lies are truth, and that God will somehow turn his back and pretend along with you that it is not really a lie defies all logic, but from personal experience, I can tell you that that did not stop me many times.  So, Father Mark is caught up in the lies of others, the need to be right, and they are basking in the glory of being right today.  However, that glow that they feel from the heat is not that of the Sun/Son, but the fires of Hell being stoked for those who would defy God and harm one of His precious children, while hurting the faith of His other children in this perfidious display.

If this were the end of this charade, it would be a time for mourning, but God is not done with this situation, and will use the redemptive suffering of Father Mark Gruber for His purposes, and His ends.

Father Mark is very Christlike in his silence, and is a model for us all.

God Bless You Father Mark.