The Hard Truth

Let’s talk about truth.  In the world we live in, truth has been crumpled up and thrown out the window.  We live in a culture of moral relativism.  If someone believes something that is contradictory to the truth, we dare not say anything unless we want to be labeled as “bigoted or hateful.”  We are told we need to agree with everyone and all beliefs, all in the name of tolerance and acceptance.  After all, we might offend someone.  For Catholics and people of faith, this is dangerous.  As followers of Jesus, we cannot withhold the truth from others.  We are called to dig into the truth of our faith and the Church’s teachings and share with others.

​There is a common misconception among many people that having strong beliefs is “imposing your religion on others.”  You’ve probably heard it before.  “Don’t like abortion?  Don’t get one.”  Don’t like same-sex marriage?  Just ignore it.”  “Don’t like contraception?  Don’t use it.”  The list goes on and on.  The Catholic Church has strong, clear teachings on topics such as these.  It is not a matter of simply not liking these things.  The Church tells us what is morally unacceptable and through scripture and tradition, God reveals truth, beauty, and goodness to us.  Defending our faith in these times is vital, but it is not easy.

We often like to be comfortable.  Maybe we don’t want to upset anyone.  We might not want to offend anyone.  We would rather just go along with the culture and hide our beliefs.  People are free to do whatever they want as long as it’s not hurting anyone, right?  Well, not exactly.  When Catholics decide they can reject certain teachings in order to not offend anyone, this can lead to a slippery slope.  Picking and choosing to believe certain teachings of the Church but disagreeing with others can give a flimsy and weak representation of the Church and our faith.  Christ is far from flimsy and weak.  Our world tells us to love everyone.  If only it really understood what love is.  We cannot love without truth and we cannot share truth without love.  If we really love those around us, we will share the truth with them.  If we want to fully embrace Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church, we will proclaim the truth boldly.  It will probably offend people.  The truth is offensive to our politically correct culture.  People will leave and reject you.  When this seems too difficult, think of Jesus and how He preached truth.

I like to think of John Chapter 6, known as the Bread of Life Discourse.  “Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.  These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.  Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?”  As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.  Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?”  (John 6:53, 59-60, 66-67).  This is how far Jesus was willing to go to tell the truth.  He accepted the consequences and did not back down, even when His teachings were met with confusion and questions.  He did not soften the truth, even when it meant people would turn away.

There’s a quote from Mother Angelica that sums it up pretty well.  She says, “It’s your obligation to speak the truth, and everyone can either take it or leave it.  But truth must be in us.  We live in such poverty of the truth today.”  If we are truly convicted of our beliefs, we must not be complacent.  When the world is going one way, we are called to walk the other way.  We are not called to be “tolerant and accepting.”  We are, however, called to be loving.  And that means sharing truth in a world that is lost and confused.  Let’s get to it!