Are you interested in the Truth?

Today at Holy Mass Jesus in the Gospel of St John tells his disciples that he will lead them to the Truth - In fact, the exact words he used were - “But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth”…….That is a very strong statement considering people today believe the truth is relative - You have “Your truth” and I have “My truth”…Jesus today tells us something all together different….The Truth of God is absolute - It can not change - Yet how many people, societies, empires and power-brokers try to do the impossible - Change the Truth - And each time history shows us, they all fail….Because Jesus founded one Church and the Church is divinely inspired, it contains the fullness of Truth…Any person with an honest and objective heart, who searches for the Truth relentlessly will always end up in the same place - The Catholic Church……Many in the Christian world today try to separate Jesus from the Church - This too is impossible!…Jesus is the head and the Church is his body….And to be Catholic is to embrace the Church in all its teachings…One can not live Sacramentally and “pick and choose” what “works” for you when viewing your Catholic faith…And we need to live Sacramentally because we need grace to live as Christ requires us….Without Sacramental grace, there is NO WAY we can live the Truth…Why? - Because of our fallen nature…..Do you believe the Catholic Church contains the fullness of Truth?…That is the question to ponder today…..Jesus today tells us that the Holy Spirit will lead us to “all truth” - What do you think he was talking about when making that statement?…….Remember - Jesus himself said - I AM THE TRUTH….And anyone who follows Christ with an open heart will indeed find the Truth…And in turn become Catholic

“I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always”

Is our Catholic faith something that is understood by a select few? - Absolutely not!…Being Catholic is actually very simple - We make it complicated…The Truth contained in the Catholic church is all written down - All we have to do is read it…Not to mention, Jesus gave us a Church, which gives us the Sacraments, which enables us to receive grace to live that same Truth - Simple! - Right?…..Over the course of two thousand years Popes have made statements, which at the time were rejected, but in time were to be proven true…….One of those statements was made by Pope Paul VI in 1968 contained in his encyclical Humanae Vitae…In the document Pope Paul stated that contraception was not to be used by Catholic married couples…He also told us what would happen if married couples used contraception…This is what he predicted…..

“A general degradation of sexual morality and an increase in marital infidelity - The loss of respect for their wives as persons on the part of their husbands, and of women in general on the part of men - The decision of some governments to impose population control through contraception, sterilization or abortion on their own people - The tendency of man to wrongly think that he should have an absolute dominion over his (or her) own body, including his procreative powers or those of others”

Sixty years have come and gone since Pope Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae - So I will ask the question - Was his prediction accurate?…..The Catholic Church contains the fulness of Truth…Each and every person was created to live in the Truth and when we reject Truth, with full knowledge and consent, something inside of us breaks…This is what we see all around us in the world today….Our world has rejected Truth and in rejecting Truth - They reject God…And with that rejection - Society breaks down……But let’s get back to the issue contraception…When Pope Paul VI made these statements about contraception, the world went crazy!…Even members of the clergy - In fact, the Canadian Bishops at the time issued a statement in 1968 called The Winnipeg Statement, which rejected the Popes claim siting this idea of Primacy of Conscience, which states that Catholics when it comes to making choices to use contraception do not have to be guided by the Church, they can use their own conscience - But what if their conscience is not fully formed?….So let me ask the question again…Who was right sixty years later? - Pope Paul VI or the Canadian Bishops?……The consequences of using contraception were told to us by the Pope before they took place, almost to the letter…Does that come as a shock? - It shouldn’t - Know why? - The Catholic Church contains the fullness of Truth…And the Truth will set you free.

"I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth”

Today in the Gospel at Mass Jesus tells us about a word that is debated to this very day - Truth….Ask your self the question - What is the debate all about?…Is it really about the Truth? - Or is it about our rejection of the Truth and people coming up with excuse after excuse as to why they have “better ideas” then God…The famous English intellectual, G.K. Chesterton weighed in on this subject……“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried”……To live the Truth contained in the Gospel and taught by the Catholic Church is IMPOSSIBLE to follow without the assistance of grace…How do we get that grace? - By living Sacramentally, through daily prayer and weekly fasting - When we make those practices apart of our life - We will find that what seemed impossible becomes possible - We will also experience the meaning of what true freedom is - Sin is slavery and only the Truth can set us free……When confronted with the Truth , Pontius Pilate famously asked Jesus  - “What is Truth?”…..And when Jesus rose from the dead, Pilate got his answer….”I am the Way - The Truth - And the Life”……The fullness of Truth is contained in the Catholic Church and to be Catholic is to experience freedom…..We are each called as Catholic to: Know the Truth - Speak the Truth - Live the Truth and And when necessary, suffer for the Truth………..The Truth is not an “idea” - It is a person and only that person can make you free......Are you interested in the Truth?………JMJ