"What is truth?" - Pontius Pilate (John 18:37)
"The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear." - Herbert Agar
"Man can certainly keep on lying... but he cannot make truth falsehood. He can certainly rebel... but he can accomplish nothing which abolishes the choice of God." - Karl Barth
"The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is." - Winston Churchill
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. - Elvis Presley
"Who of us does not know the supreme moments when a great truth, a glorious beauty of art or of nature, or the soul of a beloved person manifests itself to our soul with a lightning-like splendor, gracing our eyes with a vision of ultimate reality and prompting us to exclaim, “O Lord, how admirable is Thy name in the whole earth!” (Ps. 8:10)?" - Dietrich von Hildebrand
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me." - Jesus Christ (John 14:6)There are different kinds of truth. Logical truths: "No bachelor is married"; Mathematical truths: 2 + 2 = 4; Moral truths: "Adultery is a sin" and Supernatural Truths: "There are three Persons in one God." When we ignore truths, we place ourself in a danger corresponding to the truth ignored. God made us as rational creatures. Therefore, when we use our minds irrationally, it always brings disorder and chaos into the universe. If jelly-filled doughnuts are bad for us, and we only eat jelly doughnuts because that is what we like best, we introduce disorder into our bodily metabolism. We will without fail suffer the consequences of our poor eating habits. In other words, to ignore truth is to incur a consequence.
If it is true that "my airplane will have to be refueled every thousand miles, I cannot ignore that truth without a most unpleasant consequence. If I try to fly from Maine to Wichita without stopping to refuel in Cincinnati, that could be a problem. I might object: "but stopping in Cincinnati is inconvenient, and I can't be bothered." As we all know, the evil consequence of a plane crash will come without fail if I do not stop in Cincinnati to refuel. As there is a consequence to ignoring a mathematical truth, there are consequences to ignoring moral and supernatural truths as well. However, this does not mean that the life of a Christian is gloomy and joyless because of all these extra rules. Far from it, they add meaning and joy to our lives.
Not all truths are unpleasant by any means. Truths that are obvious are often rejected because we perceive them as being unpleasant, or too hard to follow. Due to the weakness of our fallen nature, our intellects are darkened, and we can fail to see the loveliness and splendor of truth. As Dietrich von Hildebrand implies above, in truth there is much beauty. We see it in nature, art, or in the face of a beloved. Ultimately, far from being unpleasant at all, truth IS beauty itself, because Jesus Christ is Truth, and Jesus Christ is Beauty and Goodness. Following truths we find "inconvenient" - such as "spinach is good for me" and eating spinach, renouncing our distaste, will lead us to better health if it is part of a well-rounded diet as our Creator meant us to have.
Sometimes, when we ignore truths, it can have consequences among several planes of existence. For instance, the sin of fornication or adultery can destroy relationships, damage our children, give us a sexually transmitted disease and have severe consequences for us in eternity if we do not repent. On the other hand, if we embrace the truth that chastity is a virtue, we see more clearly the beauty of true love. Sexuality is not a topic to be avoided, but it must be approaced with the awe and reverence it deserves - only then we see its true beauty. Both extremes: the earlier Victorian approach, which saw sex as something dirty, and the modern approach, trivializing this awesome gift as a base appetite that we yak about casually are wrong. The Church had it right from the beginning. We gain a greater appreciation of our beloved, and fashion for ourselves a crown of glory in heaven, for "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8).
Embracing truths involving eternal life is a very serious matter indeed. Jesus Christ impressed its seriousness on us by telling us that if our eye should be an occasion of sin, pluck it out because it is better to enter into eternal life with one eye than to be thrown into hell with two. Jesus did not mean for us to physically go about plucking out our eyes, but He absolutely meant us to avoid the near occasion of sin at great cost. When we consider the difficulty today of avoiding sin in this sad society where the current of sin is so strong, whether sexual sins, dishonesty or any other sin which society pressures us to fall in to, the cost of avoiding the occasions of sin can seem very high. However, the benefits of avoiding sin, and (should we fall) rising up and confessing the truth that we have sinned and to start anew are far greater. Thank God, for He is merciful and makes all things new. We can have our baptismal innocence restored! We will be repaid one-hundred fold for our efforts in Christ. In this life, we will know the beauty of purity and love and in eternity we will experience an indescribable love and joy. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man what God has in store for those who love Him." (1 Cor. 2:9) This will all come to us when we seek for and act on those truths Jesus reveals to us through His Church.
Those of us who grew up Catholic and are of a certain age will remember our first catechism lesson:
Q. Who made you?"The nature of the truth that concern us in this post is this: what we must KNOW to LOVE God and to SERVE God in this world to be happy with Him forever in heaven. We must strive to know, because we can only love someone that we know, and if we love someone we want to know that person more and more.
A. God made me."
Q. Why did God make you?"
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in heaven.
Some saints see the truth clearly: God consecrated them at birth, and they loved Our Blessed Lord from the first movement of their young intellect and will. We Catholics know that through the merits of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary was sanctified from the very first moment of conception, soaring throughout her life in an ever greater understanding of these spiritual truths by which we come to know, love and serve our God.
Most of us struggle with gaining truth. Society works hard to obscure it, and due to original sin, our fallen nature rebels against it. How are we to learn these truths? We live in an age where faith is scarce. "Because iniquity hath abounded, charity grows cold. (Matt. 24:12) We live in a pluralist, consumerist society where the god of many is their belly and whose glory is in their shame. (Phil. 3:19) We are bombarded in the media with hedonistic entertainment. The media preaches to us constantly that tolerance of evil is a virtue. The taking of innocent human life is enshrined in the laws of men as the supreme "right to privacy" and the most depraved beliefs given the protection of "freedom of expression" on the same or at a greater level of protection than God's Holy Truth.
With truth obscured, evil presented as good, and good as evil, how are we to find God's truth and
follow His will in this confused and confusing age? Well, the path to truth and light will be different for each individual. Central to our search is prayer to discover the truth. The truth which pleases God is supernatural, and we discover it only with God's help. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Ghost." (1 Cor. 12:3) Man's sin is a rebellion against God. We choose ourselves instead of God. In a real sense, we wish God would not even exist, as we wish to have our sin, but we obviously do not wish its consequence. As our sin offends and offers insult to our infinitely Good God, sin is an infinite injustice, which we can never repair on our own. Therefore, we gain many of the truths necessary for salvation only with His help. We need God's assistance, which He will unfailingly give if we ask with sincere and humble hearts.What should we pray for? We need to implore God to show us His Truth, whatever the consequences, wherever it leads us. It takes a certain amount of courage to do this, but what is the alternative? The truth will be true forever, even if we are willfully ignorant or reject it outright.
In my late teens, I was reasonably content with my fluid, relativist religious beliefs, which followed whatever my fancy was on any given day. I could change back and forth, and accept the contradictory belief of others without batting an eye. An initial awakening occurred whereby I knew in my heart that I needed something more, whatever "more" was. There was a nagging at my heart, which I did not understand, but I knew I had to look for "the truth" by which I should live my life.
I looked in different venues: philosophy, eastern religions, various protestant ideas, none of which satisfied me. The Catholicism of my youth was out. I laughed at the notion that I had once believed and treasured it so strongly. Even the bishops and hierarchy seemed to be waivering and unsure. I was "all grown up" now, and way too mature for that stuff. Some time went by, and I looked back, realizing that I had been on my journey a few years, effectively going around in circles, right back where I started. I became convinced that I was utterly incapable of finding truth.
There was a fork in the road before me with two choices, not seeing the third choice that would soon come to me:
[1] I could continue being complacent, believing what suited me, what my own version of "god" taught - in other words, believe what was easy and to my liking.
[2] or I could continue my search, which I knew at this point in my heart of hearts to be futile.
Should I resign myself to the notion that life is inherently absurd? Or should I pretend that the god of my making was God? I remember sitting there and mulling it over. It turned out to be a very short time, for in next instant, a familiar biblical scene from my youth began playing itself out in my mind:
"And Jesus came into the parts of Cæsarea Philippi: and he asked his disciples saying: 'Whom do men say that the Son of man is?' But they said: 'Some John the Baptist, and others Elias, and others Jeremias, or one of the prophets.'
Jesus saith to them: 'But whom do you say that I am?' Simon Peter answering said: 'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God.'
And Jesus answering, said to him: 'Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father, who is in heaven.'
'And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'" (Matt. 16:13-18)
It was an awakening like I had never had before. Ah, so I CAN find the truth after all! But, I can't do it ALONE! Like Saul's scales falling from his eyes, I could see. My conversion was not complete, it had only just begun. But I knew where I had to go to figure it all out. As soon as the scales fell from my eyes (figuratively) and I could see, an uncle who was a very devout man began speaking to me about Fatima. I remembered my youth, and my dear mother's example of faith and joy in the midst of her suffering. I felt her prayers for me. I started saying my Rosary, and one by one, the objections I had against the Catholic Faith fell, and before too many months had gone by, there I was, standing in a cold sweat waiting my turn for confession, my first in about seven or eight years. What peace came after my confession and receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!
Few of us are like Mary, in our lives are peaks and valleys, so we must be vigilant. We must daily renew our resolve and efforts. Sometimes we must stop and make a more comprehensive inventory. Man has nearly an infinite capacity for self-deception. Most of us, including Catholics, tend to believe what is convenient or flattering to us. One thing I realized on the path back to the Catholic Church: a good amount of whatever is true will probably not be appealing to me. Since I flattered myself as a man of intelligence, the notion that all talents come from God did not appeal to me. The moral teachings of the Church dealing with my particular weaknesses were inconvenient and did not appeal to me, and so on. I could not ignore them, nor could I stay in blissful ignorance of God's law! God is not fooled, and we must not fool ourselves. If we do, there will be consequences, like the plane going down in flames because I did not want to refuel in Cincinnati.
As I say in the post before this, humility is the absolute gateway to holiness, and we shall never attain heaven without it. We must get on our knees and say "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." "Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault." Some truths will be unpleasant and will not at all be to our liking. This will apply to virtually anyone here reading this post, regardless of how holy you think you are, or know you are not. We are to admit our faults, and rely childlike on our Father's mercy. We are to be kind toward others we fancy are our moral inferiors, because we are all sinners falling short of the glory of God. We truly are no better than they.
Only after we have shed all airs and any illusions about being holy or self-important in any other way can we enter the narrow gate. We cannot carry our self-importance with us into heaven. The gate is too narrow: we have to bow, we have to enter on our knees. I would strongly encourage the reader to join us on the road toward self-discovery. It is none other than the Way of the Cross, and we go there accompanied by Our Lady, good mother that she is. We must get on our knees and beg her to ask the Holy Spirit to shower us with His seven gifts, so that we may know His truths, understand them, and proclaim them boldly.
In addition to prayer and self-examination, one ought to study diligently, according to one's capacity. "But sanctify the Lord Christ in your hearts, being ready always to satisfy every one that asketh you a reason of that hope which is in you. " (1 Peter 3:15) Despite the confusion in the Church, there are still many good sources where one may turn to in order to come to a better understanding of the Faith. Remember when searching that the Catholic Faith is based on Scripture and Tradition, and there are many suspect innovations in our day:
"For there shall be a time, when they will not endure sound doctrine; but, according to their own desires, they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears." (2 Tim. 4:3)We must find sources of knowledge that are faithful to Catholic Tradition.
So we must do three things to ensure we are on the road of truth.
[1] We must pray for the truth. We can approach the Lord very simply, praying along these lines: "Oh Lord, I humbly beseech me to lead me to thy true religion which leads to happiness in this life and in the next, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord. Amen." Pray to Our Lady so that she may lead us ever closer to her Son and to His true Faith. If we pray thus, our Father, Who gives us all good things, will surely not deny us.
[2] We must be humble. God perhaps will not give His truth to one who is haughty and proud. And if by chance, we stumble across the truth in a proud and haughty state, it will not profit us, because the Lord desires a sincere and humble heart. If we are prideful, charity is grown cold. "If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. (1 Cor. 13:1) We need humility. Finally,
[3] we need to study and learn. Once the soil of our soul has been fed with humility and prayer, this third step will be easier. Our minds will more easily conform to the mind of Christ.
Far more important than a strong intellect is a humble heart and a firm faith. Ask and submit to the sweet yoke of Jesus Christ, and all these things will be added unto you.
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