What is truth?

THAT was the question Pilate asked Christ. (cfr Jn 18,38)

But Christ already answered that question before it was asked.

“Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice,” he said.

            There we have a clear answer as to what truth is. It’s

when we hear the voice of Christ. It’s a voice that is full of

charity, understanding and compassion on others, patience and mercy.

It’s also a voice that knows how to be strong and implement the

requirements of justice.

            Truth therefore is not just cold facts that we observe,

nor some objective data that we derive from our studies and

researches. Much less is it simply a matter of political opinion or

some ideological bias or things of that sort. While giving us some

aspects of truth, these do not have the last word. And as such, they

are incomplete and can easily be manipulated.

            That is why right now with everyone trying to say the

truth without God, we are practically sinking in an ocean of fake

news, hoaxes, disinformation, urban legends, propaganda, inane

trivias, superstitions, biased opinions that seek to absolutize the

relative and relativize the absolute, etc. As a consequence, we

generate a very toxic atmosphere where conflicts, anger and hatred

dominate.

            We need to adjust our understanding of truth, because very

often our understanding of it has nothing to do with any reference to

Christ. We have to understand that Christ is the very embodiment of

truth because he is the Son of God who is the very pattern of our

humanity and the Redeemer who restores our humanity that is damaged by

sin.

            We have to realize that the fullness of the truth is in

Christ, truth in all its dimensions, aspects and levels.

Truth is not just something physical or scientific. It does not depend

so much on the intensity of the passions with which we affirm it. It

is not just social, political or economic. Neither is it simply

historical or cultural. Truth, of course, is all these but is still a

lot more.

            Truth has to enter into the spiritual and supernatural

reality to which we are all subject. It has something to do with

intentions and motives. And most especially, it by definition involves

our duty to love God and to love everybody else. Truth cannot be truth

unless is it infused also with the charity that comes from God, the

God who is the creator of all things and who governs his creation with

his abiding providence.

            Thus, we cannot actually be in the truth when we fail to

put God in the equation. In fact, to be truthful, God in Christ

through the Holy Spirit has to be at the core of it. He has to be the

very principle of truth. Without God, our truthfulness would be at the

mercy of our human designs and machinations. We cannot help but

distort it. Instead of aiming at the common good, we will simply be

interested in our own selfish interests.

            And so, we have to understand that to be truthful involves

our proper relation with God. It requires authentic piety. With such

piety, we will be led to find the truth in charity. Thus, affirming

the truth often involves patience, restraint and moderation,

willingness to suffer, etc.

            The triumph of truth is not triumphalistic!

Spiritual means over human means

IN all our earthly and temporal affairs, we have to

realize that the spiritual and supernatural means always have priority

over whatever smart human means we can use. They should always be

resorted to before, during and after the pursuit of these affairs.

            These spiritual and supernatural means, whose effects may

not be immediately felt and may even differ from what we expect or

like to happen, actually enter into the very core of whatever issues,

challenges and difficulties involved in these worldly affairs of ours.

            And that’s simply because through them we directly involve

God himself in our activities as he should. Let’s remember that

there’s nothing in our life where God is not be involved. He, in fact,

should be the first one to be involved. It is also he to whom

everything should be oriented. Woe to us if we set him aside or leave

him behind.

            With God guiding us in these matters, we can hope to be

properly enlightened and thus act with a lot of prudence, fairness and

charity. First of all, the morality of our acts would be assured. We

would develop a certain sensitivity that enables us to relate our

earthly affairs to our ultimate and eternal goal.

            The human means are meant only to be tools to be used at

the instance of the light shed as a result of our intimacy with God.

They on their own are never enough to cope with the intricacies of our

worldly concerns.  They are always in need of a divine inspiration to

be truly helpful to us.

            Without God, these human means would be fully at the mercy

of our own designs which, as we all know, may not be entirely good and

fair. We don’t have to look far to find proof of this phenomenon. A

lot of ulterior motives and manipulative moves can be observed.

            We know very well that our intentions very often become

too subjective as to miss, at least in part, the requirements of what

is good for everyone. Many of us can hardly go beyond our

self-interest. We need to be truly identified with Christ to be able

to be truly men for God and for others and to act properly, whatever

the sacrifices involved.

            In this regard, we can never exaggerate the importance of

prayers, sacrifices, recourse to the sacraments, study of the doctrine

of our faith, development of virtues, living a life of genuine piety,

etc.

            These are the spiritual and supernatural means that should

always be used even as we make full use also of the human means. We

have to learn how to blend them organically to our ways of pursuing

our temporal concerns, be it in business or politics or whatever.

            These spiritual and supernatural means may require time,

effort and even money, but we can be sure they are all worthwhile.

Without them, we would be like birds without wings—yes, we can feel

lighter but completely unable to fly.

            We just have to learn how to discipline ourselves so as to

give due importance, attention, time and effort to these indispensable

spiritual and supernatural means.

            We should learn how to go on with the mysterious ways of

the spiritual and the supernatural means. Faith, hope and charity

should lead the way, not simply our reason, and much less, our

feelings.

In matters of opinion

WE have to play it cool when we discuss matters of

opinion. These, in the first place, are views that are hardly based on

absolute truths of faith and dogmas. They are more expressions of

one’s preferences and tastes, and therefore we should expect a wide

spectrum of differences, since things depend on people’s different

temperaments, backgrounds, cultures, etc.

            Yes, we can have some exchanges and try to sort out these

different and even conflicting opinions if only to clarify things and

perhaps to eke out a most fair view with respect to a particular

issue. We can attempt to have a kind of consensus.

            But all these should be done in an atmosphere of mutual

respect and utmost charity and delicacy. We have to avoid bitter zeal,

sarcasm, irony, insults, ad hominems, mockery, vulgarity, nitpicking,

fault-finding, one-upmanship, the crab mentality and the like.

            In our discussions, let’s see to it that we try our best

to see and understand why the others have views that are different and

even conflicting to ours. We have to know where they are coming from.

            Let’s be conscious of the most subtle trick to impose our

opinions on others by asking questions or clarifying based only on our

biases and preferences. I must say that in this regard, many people

fail to realize. This usually happens in the area of political issues.

            And that’s why, very often the discussion turns into

wrangling, bashing and slamming. It becomes ugly and unproductive. We

have to learn the art of agreeing to disagree, and manage to leave the

hot discussion as friends and gentlemen. In this way, we can maintain

a certain unity among ourselves despite the wide diversity.

            Even in matters of faith and dogma where our core and most

sacred beliefs are involved, we should not impose ourselves on others.

We can proclaim our beliefs and we can do it as forcefully as

possible, but still always in the context of charity.

            We have to follow what St. Paul once said—that we have to

speak the truth in charity so that “we will in all things grow up into

Christ himself, who is the head of the body, the Church.” (Eph 4,15)

In the end, to be like Christ, “alter Christus,” if not “ipse

Christus,” is our ultimate goal.

            And if we look closely at the example of Christ, he was

always open to anything even as he proclaimed the truth which is not

anymore a matter of opinion. He showed utmost fidelity to his mission

without twisting people’s arms, much less, spewing threats.

            In the end, he accepted death which can only mean that he

bore all the sins, mistakes, faults, and all the other negatives of

men. He offered not only understanding but also forgiveness.

            We have to learn how to be sport and cool in our exchanges

of opinions. We need to rein in our emotions and have a clear vision

of the ideal that we have to live in these discussions. Charity should

always prevail, because the truth, justice and all the other values we

are interested in would lose their essence if charity is absent.

            And charity here can only come from the charity of God as

revealed to us and lived fully by Christ.