Data-giving and truth-seeking

THEY need not, and in fact, should not be given equal

footing. Seeking the truth definitely is much more than just giving

data and other pieces of information.

            Seeking the truth necessarily involves charity and the

justice that should flow from charity and should tend toward it.

Merely giving data and other pieces of information may be motivated by

something else, like simply wanting to justify oneself or to seek

revenge, etc., and so it need not get to the truth as truth should be.

            Truth without charity and justice is no truth. At least,

it is not the complete truth. It would just be a truth that would not

serve the common good and would cater only to some self-interest.

Without charity, the quest for truth and justice would consider mercy

and compassion as unwelcome strangers, if not enemies.

            And how can we get the truth in the context of charity and

justice? To be blunt about it, the only way is to be with God who is

the truth himself, and the very foundation of all reality, and who

reveals himself to us through his Son who became man and declared

himself as the light of the world (cfr. Jn 8,12).

            To seek the truth necessarily involves seeking God and not

just collecting data. We cannot overemphasize our need to be with God

through Christ for us to know the truth and live it in charity and

justice. Christ himself said so: “Whoever is not with me is against

me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Mt 12,30)

            In today’s highly information-driven world, we have to be

most wary and prudent in assessing the data presented to us,

especially in the media. Before we lap up these pieces of information,

we need to ask ourselves many questions before forming our reactions,

foremost of which is, what is the motive behind these data?

            We all know that, especially in the media, the pieces of

information given are usually yet in their raw and superficial state,

still unrelated to a bigger picture, and whose motives hardly go any

further than to generate sensationalism, more ratings, intrigues and

controversies.

            If we really want to know the truth, especially in the

context of the media, we should practice a lot of restraint and

discernment in forming our judgments. We have to exercise a healthy

critical spirit, since there is great likelihood that the news items

are biased or simply incomplete. This is not to mention that nowadays

there is a surge of what is called fake news.

            Very often, objective facts are clothed in opinion or

interpretations and spins that give a distorted view of the reality.

We should always be conscious of this grim fact of life. We should

always remember that seeking the truth, especially in the context of

the media, should be a function of our pursuit to identify ourselves

with Christ, and not just to satisfy our curiosity or meet some human

need or worldly goal.

            Let’s remember what St. Paul once said: “Speaking the

truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body

of him who is the head, that is, Christ.” (Eph 4,15)

Today’s quest for order

IT cannot be denied that today’s quest for order is

getting more difficult and challenging. There are just too many things

around, producing so much clutter. The world is spinning increasingly

faster. And things in general are getting more complicated and

complex.

            We just cannot sit around, contented with our current

level of our sense of order. We have to learn to grapple with reality,

take the bull by the horns, and adapt ourselves with the rapidly

changing world without getting lost.

            Yes, we have to continue monitoring, reflecting, verifying

and learning. We have to be wary of our tendency to be complacent with

what so far has been working well with us. Times are changing and we

need to update ourselves with the new tools available. More than that,

we have to somehow update our attitudes and skills.

            The other day, a priest-friend confided to me that he is

finding it harder nowadays to give a meaningful homily, not because he

does not have ideas. The problem, in fact, is that he has too many

ideas and data that he does not know anymore what to choose from them

to make a very organic and meaningful presentation of God’s word in

the homily.

            Obviously, the problem goes beyond the technical. It is

actually asking for another turn tighter with respect to our

relationship with God and with our virtues, especially charity. It is

actually asking for more sacrifice, more humility, etc.

            We need to be more observant of the many simultaneous

developments around. Precisely because of this, we need to submit

ourselves to a certain discipline so we can cope better with the rapid

developments.

            Priority should always be given to God, to prayer, to the

sacraments, to the cultivation of virtues. These give us the firepower

to see things clearly, enabling us to put things in their proper

hierarchy. Otherwise, we will end up repeating the story of the Tower

of Babel.

            We need to see to it that we try our best to be in good

shape all the time, both spiritually and physically, mentally and

emotionally. We need to organize our day well, coming out always with

some concrete plan for the day, so we avoid finding ourselves idle or

at a loss as to what next to do.

            Even our rest, which is also very important to us, should

be properly planned. We should not take it for granted, because

neglecting it will surely take a toll on our over-all health and

capacity to work. We have to find a way of recharging ourselves

periodically during the day.

            I happen to know some people who have gotten so addicted

to their work that they lost the capacity to rest. The result, of

course, is a big disaster. We have to take care of our rest in all

aspects of our life—spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, etc.

            Of course, it is also important to realize our own

limitations and not worry too much about them. We have to learn how to

live with them, neither getting complacent nor nervous or too worried

with them. We have to learn to be both busy and serene.

What makes us new

WITH the celebration of Easter, which commemorates the

resurrection of Christ, his victory over sin and death, we are told by

our Christian faith that we are made new. We are now a new creation.

            St. Paul tells us as much. “If anyone is in Christ, the

new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.” (2 Cor

5,17)

            But we may ask, what does it mean to be ‘in Christ,’ and

how does Christ make us new? What has his resurrection got to do with

our becoming a new creation? What does his resurrection contain that

it can make us new?

            These questions, I believe, can help us to have a finer

understanding of the process of our renewal, which actually is a

lifelong process for us and which we have to do continually.

            We need to renew because we tend to grow old and to die

spiritually. Bodily, of course, we cannot help but grow old and die

eventually. But spiritually, we are supposed to live in eternity, ever

young, new and fresh.

            We have to remind ourselves that what makes us old and

subject to death is sin, that is, when we detach ourselves from God

from whom we come and to whom we belong. We, who have been created in

God’s image and likeness and adopted children of his, are meant to

live our life with God who is eternal, ever new and never growing old.

            To make ourselves new again after we have fallen into sin

and thus putting ourselves in the system of getting old and dying, we

need to be forgiven, to receive God’s mercy.

            Christ’s death on the cross and his resurrection actually

represent the ultimate of divine mercy and forgiveness. His death

represents his bearing and assuming all the sins of men, from that of

Adam and Eve to the last sin that still has to be committed, of the

last man who still has to be born. His resurrection represents his

victory over sin and death. His death and resurrection therefore

comprise the ultimate of divine mercy.

            There’s just a very interesting passage in the Book of

Lamentation in the Old Testament that can give more forcefulness to

this divine mercy that is responsible for making us a new creation.

            It says: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,

because His compassion fail not. They are new every morning. Great is

your faithfulness.” (Lam 3,22-23)

            We therefore have every reason to be most hopeful. Christ

has already guaranteed for us that we can be made new, as long as we

go along with him. Better still, as long as we identify ourselves with

him to the extent that we become “another Christ, Christ himself.”

            We should assume the mind of a victor and a winner, full

of confidence, but aware also that to be such would require constant

struggle. We should think that no evil can overcome us as long as we

manage to be with Christ who gives himself to us very abundantly and

easily.

            This is how we are always made new.