What is truth?

One of the most ironic passages in Scripture is from John's Gospel, 18:37-38, where Jesus is on trial, standing before the Roman governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate: So Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?"  Jesus answered, "You say I am a king.  For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everybody who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."  Pilate said to him, "What is truth?"

Pilate asks the very Truth standing in front of him, "What is truth?"

Jesus before Pilate

This past week I came across two separate articles on the internet that are actually related to one another.  One was about a recent Pew Research Center report showing that Protestants are no longer a majority in the United States.  According to this report, one in five Americans say they have no religious affiliation.  There are also a growing number of Americans who say they are "spiritual, but not religious" (whatever that means) or who identify themselves as atheist.

The other story related how at a current synod of bishops in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI is calling for a re-evangelisation of modern, secular culture.  As Protestants are no longer the majority religion in the United States, so has the Catholic Church lost ground in Europe, North America and Latin America.

Many online readers commented on both of these articles.  The typical comments ran like this: This only shows how humans have grown wiser and more intelligent; Good riddance to ignorance; The churches need to adapt to the modern world or disappear and so on.

G. K. Chesterton once wrote, What's true at 9 in the morning doesn't stop being true at 2 in the afternoon.

In other words, Truth is eternal.  Any half-way serious and reflective person can look around and see that the present day, secular culture is sick and dying.  When this worldly culture collapses into dust and ashes (and collapse it will) the Church will still be standing.  And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)

But I'm afraid we have a long, dark age before us; a time of great trial and tribulation.  This is the time for Christians to fortify themselves; for the Church to draw ever closer to her Spouse, Jesus Christ, the Source of all strength and comfort.

And if anyone thinks I make this dire prediction lightly or even with some perverse glee, remember that I'm a father of two young children.  The last thing I want for them on this earth is a future of darkness and trouble.

The Year of Faith

In regards to Christians fortifying themselves, Pope Benedict has declared that a "Year of Faith" will begin for Catholics on October 11, 2012 and conclude on November 24, 2013, the feast of Christ the King.  The pope has written that the "Year of Faith" is a "summons to an authentic and renewed conversion to the Lord, the One Savior of the world."

There are many ways for Catholics (as well as our other Christian brothers and sisters) to renew our faith and dioceses and parishes around the world will encourage this renewal in a variety of ways: through spending more time with Scripture, the catechism and other Church writings; through the sacraments of the Church, particularly the Eucharist; and through prayer and striving daily to live out our Christian faith.

The following comes from an article in this month's Magnificat by Bishop Malcolm McMahon of the diocese of Nottingham, England.

My favorite definition of Faith is the one found in the old "penny" catechism.  In answer to the question, "What is Faith?", the reply is given that, "Faith is a supernatural gift of God which enables us to believe without doubting whatever God has revealed."  I like this because it reminds us that Faith is a gift or grace.  It is the way in which God, who is Truth itself, enables us to believe in him as our creator and in his Son Jesus, our Saviour.  There is a great freedom about faith because as a gift we can either take it or reject it.

The Church, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has interpreted the revelation of God in the holy scriptures through the ages.  Our faith has been passed down to us, and it is our responsibility to pass it on intact to the next generation.  In other words we don't make it up for ourselves.  Nowadays people often make up their religion, choosing a bit of spirituality from one tradition and customs from another; a kind of mix and match religion.  Furthermore, modern people will often only accept as true that which they can authenticate for themselves.  So unless something can be proved to one's own satisfaction then it cannot be believed.

However, Pope Benedict suggests a way of developing our personal faith.  We don't all have to become theologians and try to prove everything we believe, or develop a fantastic memory so that we can learn the catechism by heart.  He points out that, "Faith grows when it is lived as an experience of love received and when it is communicated as an experience of grace and joy."

And that, of course, is the way that most of us deepen our faith: through a close relationship with Jesus.

Having a friendship with Jesus means discovering his love in other people who form his body, the Church.  It means reaching out to the people that Jesus cared for; listening to him in prayer, and shaping our lives to be his disciples.

Do we have such total trust in Jesus that we would follow him at all costs?  Could we, like the first disciples, leave behind our livelihood and follow him if he called us in this way?  I don't suppose Saint Peter was an expert theologian who knew every aspect of his faith, yet he followed Jesus when called.  He trusted him; he believed in him.

The Year of Faith calls us to deepen our faith and to live it more fully.  So let us open ourselves to receive the gift of faith anew.  God will help us to understand and believe in his revelation by the love he shows us, and by encouraging us to live our faith in new and exciting ways.