Whatever you lie about owns you. Did you ever consider that? To own is to control, or to possess. You are controlled by the untruths you tell because they create a false reality in which you must now live.

Once told, a lie has us stuck; a web we weave, is the famous way of putting it.

What is a lie?

There are various kinds. Some think there are "white" lies -- harmless little untruths.

There is no such thing.

There is no white or black or gray lie.

There is either telling the truth or not telling it and to God we are totally transparent.

There are lies of embarrassment: we can't stand a little truth about us.

There are lies of materialism: we pretend to be what we are not.

There are lies of omission. This is simply not telling something that is relevant, and especially if asked.

There are lies of taking something out of context, of distorting it, of using "spin."

These seem "minor," but are still lies because they deceive. There you have the definition: a lie is any form of deception.

When we are asked something and evade a truthful answer, we're lying by implication.

Our silence can lie. So can a smile. So can tears (when they're not real). So are little things like a secretary saying a boss isn't there when he is.

A lie is a lie is a lie and when one is told enough, it is believed.

Repeat something over and again about a person and it becomes ingrained. It takes on reality. Hitler knew this theory and called it "the Big Lie." We see it everywhere from government to Hollywood (acting) to advertising.

Some people think they are being clever when they get away with a deception. They have gotten away with nothing. God sees and hears all and has everything recorded -- even our thoughts. “Beware of the leaven – that is, the hypocrisy – of the Pharisees," said Jesus (see Luke 12). “There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops."

We lie when we are intentionally inaccurate, when we convey a false impression, when we pretend. We lie when we stray from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pretense is a sign of the devil (who is the great deceiver). During an exorcism, one of the first breakthroughs a priest has to make is to dispel the pretense behind which the demon hides -- the "mirage." There is even a casino named this!

To deceive is to disconnect from someone, and diminish their dignity. It is an affront. It is an insult -- "intentional" or not. Small lies lead to bigger lies. We lose a piece of our humanity.

And they own us because it is with us and part of us until they are confessed.

The various forms include fibs, hype, exaggeration, false salesmanship, excuses that are untrue, cover stories, cheating (such as on taxes), and bold-faced prevarication.

Do you fib?

Do you exaggerate?

Do you perjure (we can even be indicted for it)?

Worst of all: have you spread false rumors about a person? 

Remember a gigantic lesson from the Bible: the truth sets you free (John 8:32) (where lies bind you).

Do you overcharge?

Do you overstate the work you have done?

They are matters to take to the Confessional, until each one is cleared and the whiteness of purity replaces the little blots that sully the "robe" we wear into eternity.

[resources: The Other Side and Michael Brown retreat in New Jersey and Phoenix]

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