The truth will set you free
Wednesday 5th week of lent
Lenten season is an intense season for prayers, fasting, and charity for others. We pray, above all, for that which we all desire for this passing world: inner joy and peace of mind. But, what is the way to joy and peace? Jesus intimates us in the Gospel today that the way to joy and peace – experiences of authentic human freedom – is simply this: live by the truth. “The truth will set you free.”
We have some points to contemplate on the truth based on Jesus’ words:
If you remain in my word…you will know the truth. In a world that is so much “in” with relativism and subjectivism, Jesus clarifies for us that the truth is not what each one thinks it should be. There is an objective and absolute measure for the truth: God’s will and word. The laws of the natural order and even the law of Church and State would only be truth if they reflect the absolute will of God. Hence, something cannot be true today… then it is not tomorrow. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Truth will always be the same essence wherever and whatever.
The truth will set you free. Oftentimes, we think of the truth as “something that is grasped with the mind.” But the truth that Jesus speaks of is one that is grasped with one’s whole life. It is the truth of being and living. [One cannot say it the truth but his/her life doesn’t show that it is the truth.] In other words: it is faithfulness to one’s life orientation, direction, and values. Then, we find it easy to realize that indeed, as Jesus proclaims, truth sets you free. For when we are faithful with the life that is for us – we have nothing to hide, we have no fear, we can be confident before anyone, we are at peace, and we are free.
But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Truth always makes a martyr out of its disciples. Since truth is eternal and absolute because it is based on God, the disciples of truth must be consistent, not compromising. That means guts, a lot of guts, and cuts!
