The Truth Will Set You Free

Today, in the United States, a type of modern martyrdom exists that doesn’t include the loss of life, but does include the loss of respect. Christians who believe the Truth of Jesus Christ face a huge amount of opposition by the secular culture. Many Christians are pressured to accept the sins and immoral behaviors of others or else they will be “cancelled”. Speaking the Truth publicly could result in being sued and/or publicly humiliated. Christians now live in fear of being labeled a bigot and this fear is effecting their willingness to love their neighbor enough to speak the Truth to them when they are in error.

All of the apostles, with the exception of St John, lost their life defending the faith in Jesus Christ. These men, and the many men and women who came after them, publicly proclaimed Jesus Christ as the Way, the Truth, and the Life despite the risk of death. They did so with the help of the Holy Spirit who came to them in the very beginning at Pentecost and remained with them until the end. This public proclamation of the Truth convicted the hearts of those who were not following Jesus. It allowed them the opportunity to face their faults and sinful behaviors, so that they could repent and turn back to God. But all too often we don’t want to face our sins; we’d rather ignore the weight of them and convince ourselves that they are not sins at all.

Thus the Truth of Jesus Christ brings with it controversy. Jesus tells His followers, “do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34). There is a battle between good and evil and in this life we are all partakers in this battle whether we know it or not. We are invited to join Jesus and Mary in putting Satan under our feet. This is done by battling sin in our own lives and striving to live a life of virtue. Mary did this most perfectly as she knew no sin, she was full of grace and grace aids us in defeating sin and Satan in our lives.

The Christian life is not easy. Satan desires the death of humanity and everything that lives; with this comes the death of Truth. Jesus tells his followers “if you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31-32). There is freedom to life in Christ and this comes through knowing the Truth. Ultimately, this freedom is what makes us truly happy, so we should always be striving to know, understand, and fully accept God’s Truth in our lives.

As defenders of the Truth, Christians become witnesses to Truth firstly by the way we live our lives and then secondly through our words. The Christian witness gives glory to God, who in turns draws all people to Himself. We have the opportunity to do this in every circumstance, in both sorrow and joy.

Whatever the outcome of our public proclamation of the Truth, every generation is called to stand up for the Truth in defense against the lies of Satan. It is the intention of Satan to kill the Truth, but the Truth can never actually die. It will live on forever through the power of the Holy Spirit, both in the Church and in each one of us. Truth will be fulfilled in eternal life when we are united with God in perfect union, filled with the knowledge and understanding of the fullness of Truth. This promise is our hope. It is what the martyrs held onto as they bravely accepted their crown of martyrdom in defense of the Truth.

Today, Christians in the Western world are faced with this modern martyrdom, which comes in the form of being “cancelled” or killed by popular culture. With this comes the fear of public humiliation and suffering the loss of respect. This no doubt weighs heavy on all of our hearts. No one wants to be labeled a bigot and called out as hateful and unloving. No one wants their reputation or the reputation of the institution they are associated with to be ruined.

But we all must ask ourselves what is more important? What is the highest good? Preserving our reputation or preaching the Truth. The single greatest mission of the Church is the salvation of souls. Souls are saved by the Truth. All too often we operate out of the false belief that Christians are made by welcoming people and making them feel good and comfortable at our parish. While this is good to do, it is only the initial step and it is not the highest good of evangelization. Christians are made through conversion. We are only Christian so much as we turn away from sin and turn back to God.

Not unlike the early church martyrs, fear is the biggest obstacle we face in proclaiming the Truth. Fear can paralyze us and open the door to let in confusion and deception. Listening to fear, we can be convinced to remain silent when we find our friend is in error, or even worse, end up accepting good as evil and evil as good.

God calls us to love our neighbor and this means mercifully speaking the Truth of Jesus Christ into their lives. Jesus loved sinners, but He never once left them in their sin. He always called them out of it into His loving mercy. This is our call as Christians as well. Every person has the dignity to be perfectly united with Christ. Every human being was created to be a saint. It is not up to us to determine who is worthy of hearing the Truth and who is not, based upon if we think the person will be fully converted to Christ. All we can do is love and love means speaking Truth to all, no matter what consequence we may experience as a result.

Who of us is willing to stand up for Truth and face the consequences of doing so? It is always a mercy for us to charitably bring light to the error of our neighbors. By doing so, it allows the Holy Spirit to nourish the seeds of Truth and convert hearts. In this, let us also hope and pray that our neighbor will do the same for us. For all of us are blinded by sin in some way and we need the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ to shed light on our errors, so that we may turn ever more fully back to the Lord.

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