The Spirit of truth

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)

            We have to take note that this business of getting to the

whole truth involves a process. It’s not a one-shot deal. It involves

some kind of journey. No one can ever say he has the whole truth until

he reaches where the Spirit of truth would finally lead him.

            We have to remember that everything that exists has

something of the truth, since by merely existing, that something is

already true. But as to whether it has the whole truth, it would

depend whether it has the Spirit of truth or not.

            The most important thing is to see if something that we

consider to be true is in conformity with the Spirit of truth.

Otherwise, we will be deceived and trapped by the many appearances of

truth that do not bring us to the real thing which, in the end, can

only be God.

            Thus, we can say that even the devil, who is a liar and is

the father of lies (cfr. Jn 8,44), has some truth in him. That he

exists is already an indication that he is true and real. And

everything that he says to tempt us certainly contains a lot of truth.

            But as to whether he has the whole truth, we can

definitely say that he does not have it. He precisely will take us

away from the ultimate and constant truth—God. He will do it by giving

us the many deceptive appearances of truth.

            We need to be clear about this point. Especially today

when we are bombarded with a lot of data and information supposedly

containing scientific things and facts, we have to see to it that all

these pieces of information are related to the Spirit of truth.

            So, for example, when we read news items and opinion

columns or listen to some talk shows, we should be properly guarded.

They will always try to impress us with what they consider to be the

truth. But unless they are related to the Spirit of truth, we will

always have reason to doubt them, or to take them with a grain of

salt, or to consider them in a tentative way, or to simply dismiss

them.

            Unless related to the Spirit of truth, these pieces of

information may just be inspired by self-interest that goes against

the common good. They can hardly escape from the distortions of their

biases and prejudices. They may even outrightly go against God, the

source of all truth and goodness. In fact, sad to say, this latter

observation is getting rampant.

            Even the scientific data can in the end be not in the

truth, since if they are not related to the Spirit of truth, they can

only occasion in us the anomalies of pride, vanity, greed, etc.

            With the Spirit of truth, we will always enjoy the gifts

and the fruits of the Holy Spirit in varying degrees. With the Spirit

of the truth, all our assertions of truth will always redound to the

ultimate purpose of our life here on earth—our own sanctification and

salvation.

            To be in the truth, our pursuit of it will not just limit

itself to some earthly and human interest. It will always be meant for

our sanctification and salvation, no matter mundane and human the

issue at hand we are dealing with is.