The Boldness of Truth

 The truth, what is the truth? It isn't hard to find, it is just sometimes hard for us to accept.

Searching for the truth!

 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life." The word of God has many passages on truth. Some things that are difficult for me to understand are easier for me to accept when I am aware that they are a truth of God. He takes away the uncertainty and dives deep into the truth of different areas of our lives when they would otherwise be flattened by a false equality of relativity of truth. He is the truth. Another quote from the book of St. John are when Pilate who is a leader and is comfortable is faced with an uncomfortable situation, a bleeding, beaten, humble and very loved man brought to him to be put to death for speaking about a new truth...This wounded Man says to him "I was born to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is truth listens to my voice." Pilate stares at Him thinking what is the most convenient thing to do, then with a touch of arrogance asks "What is truth?"

In today's podcast I missed seeing my old priest, Father Dan, but was happy to see a great substitute, Bishop Joseph Strickland. 

I love seeing priests and bishops pray...it encourages me to pray.

He spoke quite beautifully on the need to be bold and live in truth. I really liked what he said about walking life living in truth not worrying what the consequences might be because God revealed Himself as the truth. If you walk in the truth revealed by God, in a sense you walk in the will of God, consequences come as they may. 

I thought of the truth because it can be a scary thing to walk in the truth of God! Naturally, some things in our life are private, many things from how many gummy bears I secretly ate to what is going on in your personal relationships. One thing I thought of the other day, as I secretly overate the gummy bears that I had bought for a care package for a priest on a mission (Sorry, Fr. Dan! I will get you more), was that this was a great example of being able to hold a secret and be discrete but also an awareness that hide the packaging of the mountain of gummy bears that I ate, try as I may, I couldn't hide it from God who is all knowing, all seeing and all powerful.

Gummy bear living the good life, till I found him.

 It might be a small example but He knew my hidden gummy bear overeating truth although at the moment no one else did. In a similar way God knows what we do in each area of our lives and where we are called to be discrete and keep things like a treasure without sharing our divine experiences that aren't always meant to be vocalized or they loose their preciousness. Saint Jose Maria Escriva has a whole chapter on discretion, one of his quotes that I like is, "Results! Always looking for 'results'! You ask me for photographs, for facts and figures. I won't send you what you ask because (though I respect the opposite opinion) I would then think I had acted with a view to make good on earth, and where I wan to make good is in heaven." 

And there are times where discreteness is a cover for cowardice. Cowardice to speak the truth when something is wrong, when we clearly see a soul putting itself in danger, when our friend or relative needs truth to unveil their eyes from a lie being spoken to them or a lie they are telling themselves.

Tell Mrs. Truth I am not home and am not taking messages.

Please put Mrs. Truth in my spam folder going forward...

How about truth to yourself? I find that so many times it is easier to ignore my own truth and be a coward from it than to figure out what I am feeling, why I am feeling it and see if it is in the will of God and if not kick that thing as far from me as I can. Saints were sinners, and each sinner is called to be a saint. None of them woke up sanctified one fine sunny morning and started walking with a pep in their step while the world around them bent to their saintly desires. No, living to strive in holiness each day is a bargain with yourself that you can't do it alone, because you need God to help you in each tiny thing that you think is yours but isn't in the bigger picture if you surrender it to Him. (I have prayed over my accounting spreadsheets at work when I feel I can't do it, for example) Sometimes our personal truth comes from a very organic place, say that I am cranky and not able to answer emails for example because the light of the screen is hurting my head, it could very well be I haven't been drinking enough water and the barometric pressure has dropped below a point where I start to get a serious migraine.

"Lunch Lady, you are seriously getting on my nerves and making my headache worse."

 Excuse for being a crank? No, but understanding the source of my present moment of truth can lead me to being patient with myself knowing myself and my weakness in that moment so I can try with the grace of God to be more patient with my present truth, my yowling cat, and those around me. Another common example: Feeling funky after Holy Mass and feeling like responding to an annoying family member by being snippy? What is your truth in this situation? The fight between God and Devil around you. You just received Holy Communion and you are a bulls eye for the Evil One who seeks to divide. Be aware of yourself and what the truth is in each situation. Sit down with yourself from time to time, with a crucifix and with a blank piece of paper and pray and ask the truth of different situations to be revealed to you through the Holy Spirit. It may or may not come in that moment, but having an open heart helps so much. Sometimes you can't handle the truth and want to bounce up from contemplating, arguing "That's not what I asked for!" and it is probably what you needed to hear in prayer...Finding the truth of yourself, in relation to God, to Mother Mary, to your relationships on earth will help you in helping others figure out their truth. You will be able to see more clearly when your loved one are suffering in similar circumstances as you when you have been there and worked on it. 

On that note, one truth I find very common is people having a hard time turning with love and trust to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Why is that? I think more times often than not it is from a lack of being able to openly accept maternal love without strings attached, without painful memories from our own mother and without feeling that something is expected in return. Our Lady is a perfect mom and accepting that truth is so hard when our only example of a mother was an imperfect mom. Finding a way to accept Mother Mary's perfection and perfect love so many times opens the opportunity to heal from maternal wounds and to see and love our own earthly mother more with the loving patience that Mother Mary has given to us when we turn to her.

She kills the snakes of your life. Don't hold back, run towards your Heavenly Mother!

Digging out the truth is sometimes like taking out a cavity. We are sometimes happier to live with our supposed hidden hearts than have the truth revealed to us because we think it doesn't apply to us. Big news, it does: truth is of God because He identified as Truth. When you live in truth, He is with you. 

Enjoy today's podcast with Bishop Strickland and Kevin Well. And go ahead, feel free to be a little bold living the purity of God in truth this week. Don't be shy, you have angels and Saints in heaven rooting for you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYq-t-RYTu4