Beware of certain “truths”

WE have to be careful with those truths in quotation marks. They may cite data and facts, they may even invoke some words of the Bible, but if they do not come from Christ himself, they can only give some appearance of truth, or some partial truths at best, that are mentioned mainly in pursuit of some self-interest, if not of deception and manipulation. 

 That’s simply because Christ himself said that he is “the way, the truth and the life” (cfr. Jn 14,6), the only one who can bring us to God. He is the only one that can provide us with the proper way to bring us to our definitive eternal life of perfect happiness in union with God himself. 

 Many people, especially many politicians and businessmen, can dish out a lot of verified facts and data. But this does not mean that they are leading us to the real truth and to God. Most of the time, they only lead us to their own interest and advantage. Yes, they can have some traces of truth, but that’s about it, that’s pretty much everything. Let’s neither forget that when the devil dared to tempt Christ, he also cited some scripture passages. (cfr. Mt 4,1-11) 

 To know the truth and to be in the truth are a matter of being discerning of what Christ in the Holy Spirit is telling and showing us. In short, we cannot know and be in the truth unless we follow what the Spirit tells us. 

 We just cannot rely on facts and data and a majority vote to be in the truth. Understanding truth that way, without the inspiration of the Spirit, would just lead us to be deceived in a way that can be most subtle and convincing. But the result or the effect of such misunderstanding of truth would only be greater division among us or some harm. 

 Somehow, we can verify the effect of such misunderstanding of truth just by looking at how there is now a lot of division and misunderstanding among ourselves in spite of the tremendous developments we have in the sciences and the technologies. We can have a glut of facts and data and we can make choices by majority vote, and still the truth would elude us. 

 Facts and data need a proper spirit for them to serve the cause of truth. We need to realize that truth in the context or setting of our human condition needs a proper spirit. Without considering the proper spirit, they can only be used—or misused—by all sorts of possible human motives that in the end may not be right for us, or may just be self-serving to some of us but harmful to others. 

 We have to realize that the pursuit for truth is a very tricky one. For that, we need to be familiar with the Spirit of Truth. He is the one who will show us the whole truth and not just some aspects of it. If we really want to be in the truth and not confused and lost in the many appearances of truth, we need to get in touch with the Spirit of Truth. 

 Christ himself said: “When he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (Jn 16,13) No one can ever say he has the whole truth until he reaches where the Spirit of truth would finally lead him, and that is when God becomes “all in all.” (cfr. 1 Cor 15,28)

How small ordinary things can be great

IT’S kind of amazing that in the gospel reading for the Mass of the Memorial of St. Joseph, the Worker, (cfr. Mt 13,54-58) celebrated on May 1, the figure of the foster father of Christ is just mentioned in passing, giving us the impression that he is no important character and that whatever he did was no big deal. 

 That’s when Christ went to his hometown and started to teach in the synagogue, astonishing the unbelieving townmates who could not help but say: “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son,” they commented. They did not even mention the name of Joseph who simply was referred to as a carpenter. 

 But to be sure the role of Joseph in the life of Christ and in the whole economy of salvation cannot be exaggerated. He played a very crucial role in taking care of Christ as a child and in giving us a clear example that one does not have to be a big, prominent man, humanly speaking, involved in some big things, again according to human standards, for him to do the things of God and thereby achieve his holiness and real greatness. 

 The great lesson we can learn here is that all our duties and responsibilities of whatever state in life we may have, whether we are married or single, father, mother, son, daughter, worker, or whether we are a lay person or a religious consecrated person, are our clear way to cooperate in God’s continuing and redemptive providence over us. We need to appreciate more deeply the significance of our ordinary duties which we often take for granted. 

 And this is all because we are all children of God, and as such, our life is always a life with God. Everyone of us has a vocation that gives meaning and purpose, color and direction to our whole life. 

 Whether we are prominent in society or just an ordinary guy, a big politician or a menial worker spending the day toiling in the farms, each one of us is called by God, i.e., is given a vocation and has a mission to carry out in this life. We have to be aware of this basic truth about ourselves and be most discerning as to what specific vocation God is giving us. 

 In the case of St. Joseph, he was called, almost from nowhere, to be the husband of Mary and the foster father of Christ. It would look as if he was just asked to play a cameo role, an extra in a story, some kind of a prop to complete the scene in a given play. And yet he did it very, very well! 

 He corresponded to his vocation as the foster father of Christ and as husband of Mary with all his heart, even going through heroic episodes when, for example, he had to gather Mary and the baby Jesus in the middle to the night to escape the murderous rampage of a mad king. 

 If we would just be faithful to our vocation, no matter how small or hidden it is, we would already be carrying out an important part of God’s providence! We need to set aright our attitude toward whatever condition and state in life we may have in this life. The ordinary little things that we handle everyday are first of all our way to show our love for God and to cooperate in his ongoing providence over us.

From a vicious cycle to a virtuous cycle

A BROTHER of mine once gifted me with a gyro ball. It’s a device used for exercise and rehabilitation that strengthens wrists, forearms and hands, and improves grip strength and dexterity. I was amazed at how it works since with a certain movement of the hand, the ball just spins endlessly inside its shell until I decide to stop it. It has a self-generating momentum that keeps it going. 

 Somehow, the device reminds me of what we may describe as self-perpetuating cycles in our life that can either be good or bad, virtuous or vicious. And nowadays, with the proliferation of all kinds of addiction—from alcohol to drugs to pornography and sex—we somehow need a kind of gyro ball that can replace the vicious cycle into a virtuous cycle. 

 In the area of sexual addiction, for example, I am happy to note that there are now initiatives that promote the ideal of holy purity that would put sexual desires and actions in full agreement of God’s natural and moral law. It’s an ideal that definitely brings joy and peace of mind, and would put us on the proper path toward our ultimate goal in life, which is our sanctification. 

 These initiatives apply the wisdom and science of behavioral therapy to the challenge of overcoming addictive sexual behaviors. They show ways of how to gain mastery over our cravings, anxiety and distraction, using the research results, for example, in neuroscience, psychology, physiology and medicine. Of course, the religious, spiritual and supernatural inputs are used as anchor of the whole exercise. 

 This behavioral therapy addresses the momentum that drives virtuous and vicious cycles of behavior alike. In the vicious cycles, this momentum involves the process of increasing automation as one tries to escape from painful emotions. In virtuous cycles, what is involved is the growth in the sense of meaning, mastery and enjoyment that comes from the pursuit of the ideals proper to us as persons and as children of God. 

 In all this, the virtue of patience is needed first of all. It enables us to be willing to suffer the cravings for the sake of a higher and proper goal. It allows us to see the cravings as precisely the opportunity to convert the vicious cycle into a virtuous one. 

 This exercise also involves a certain kind of reframing that would train us to see trials as opportunities instead of threats. This kind of reframing would change how our brain works during a trial, changing the craving into an ability to make moral decisions. It will teach us how to be less impulsive and less prone to distractions, making our cravings much easier to manage. 

 In the end, what is most helpful is for us to be totally open first to God and to those who can help us spiritually, morally, psychologically and emotionally. For sure, a lot of sacrifice is needed, but we have to be assured that all the things needed, both human and supernatural, are all available. We just have to do our part. 

 It’s highly advisable that we would have recourse first of all to a spiritual director. We should lay all the card on the table without hiding anything. And if the seriousness of the problem warrants it, we may need to have professional help from psychologists, psychiatrists and doctors. 

 There’s always hope. Christ assures us of success. We just have to do our part.