101. Fifth Wednesday of Lent

Meditations no. 147 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

Jesus set us an example of love for the truth at the cost of personal sacrifice.

Jesus set us many examples of love for the truth. One of them is the following, from St John’s Gospel. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the Temple, in Solomon’s portico. So the Jews gathered round him, and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ tell us plainly.” His enemies asked him this, in order to force him to give a compromising reply. If Jesus spoke to them openly, he knew they would instantly try to stone him; and he who is our model in everything, taught us through his example what our approach should be. Jesus Christ was not put off by the Pharisees’ hostile attitude, but said clearly: I and the Father are one. At once he was surrounded by a furious crowd of Jews shaking their fists and shouting. But the Lord continued bearing witness to the truth.

To the Jews who believed in him Jesus said: If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. Our Father comments: How great a truth is this, which opens the way to freedom and gives it meaning throughout our lives. I will sum it up for you, with the joy and certainty which flow from knowing there is a close relationship between God and his creatures. It is the knowledge that we have come from the hands of God, that the Blessed Trinity looks upon us with predilection, that we are children of so wonderful a Father. I ask my Lord to help us decide to take this truth to heart, to dwell upon it day by day; only then will we be acting as free men. Do not forget: anyone who does not realize that he is a child of God is unaware of the deepest truth about himself. When he acts he lacks the dominion and self-mastery we find in those who love our Lord above all else.

Convince yourselves that to go to heaven, we must commit ourselves freely, with a wholehearted, constant and voluntary determination. By itself, however, freedom is insufficient: it needs a guide, a pole-star. And that guide is the word of Christ and the Magisterium of the Church. Therefore, we should not be afraid to speak the truth, although sometimes it may be better to keep silent out of charity towards our neighbour. When genuine charity demands it, and it causes no one harm, we should keep silent, but never out of lukewarmness, love of comfort or cowardice.

Holy intransigence in the things which refer to God: always telling the truth with charity.

We have received clear, precise doctrine, and that is what we must give to others. We cannot remain passive when confronted with error or confusion. There can be no agreement of truth with lies, no agreement of darkness with the light. This is why we are intransigent with regard to error. It is not just simply intransigence, but “holy intransigence”. It is holy, in the first place, because we do not yield on things which belong to God and which are therefore holy. We are only custodians and faithful administrators of the truth. To give way in these matters would be a sure sign of not possessing the truth. When a man gives way in matters of ideals, or honour or of faith, that man is a man without ideals, without honour and without faith. We are not swayed by personal interests; instead we say what we have a duty to say, even at the risk of our own lives. This must be our disposition and our attitude when the rights of God, of the Church or of the Work are at stake: to tell the truth without compromising.

Our intransigence must also be holy because of the way we carry it out. We must speak the truth in love, veritatem facientes in caritate. If we do not teach the truth with charity, we run the risk of weakening the doctrine itself, which is all about love. We must take into account that people are made up of more than reason alone. If we hurt them, aside from lacking charily towards them, we also risk making them close their hearts against the truth.

Holy intransigence over things on which we cannot yield because they do not belong to us, must not be confused with the violence of the narrow-minded. Our Father has said: Never use violence! I can’t understand violence, and I don’t think it is the right way to convince or win people over. A person who receives the faith always feels victorious. Error is to be fought with prayer and God’s grace, with calm reasoning, with studying and getting other people to study, and, I repeat, with charity. That’s why, if ever anyone is mistreated because he or she is in error, be sure that I will feel the need to stand alongside that person, and share their sufferings out of love for God.

Holy intransigence firstly in our own lives, by practising what we preach.

Besides being preached, the truth must be practised and lived. The world thrives on lies even twenty centuries after the Truth came among men.

We have to tell the truth! This is precisely what we have to do as children of God. When men get used to proclaiming and hearing the truth, there will be more understanding in this world of ours.

Jesus once again sets us the example of his life. He says to the Jews: If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works I do. Our lives must be sincere. We who have Christ’s truth in our hearts, must bring this truth into the hearts, minds and lives of other people. It is a grave obligation for us. The opposite is all very comfortable, but bad policy. Our Father continues: I have the duty of leading all souls along Christ’s path.” We can only achieve this by imitating our Lord, who began to do and teach, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles.

We must bear witness with our upright lives. Then our words can bring the good aroma of Christ to other people. For he is the one who attracts, and convinces, and makes them fall in love. The Christian must prove himself to be genuine, truthful and sincere in all that he undertakes. His conduct should reflect a spirit - the spirit of Christ If anyone in this world has a duty to be consistent with his beliefs, it is the Christian, for he has been entrusted with a gift that he must make fruitful, and that gift is the truth which liberates and saves. But Father, you might ask me, how am I to achieve this sincerity of life? Jesus Christ has given his Church all the means necessary. He has shown us how to pray, how to get to know his heavenly Father. He has sent us his Spirit, the Great Unknown, who acts within our souls. And he has left us those visible signs of his grace that we call the Sacraments. Use them. Intensify your life of piety. Pray every day. And never refuse to shoulder the sweet burden of Christ’s Cross.

Let us ask our Lord, through our Lady’s intercession, for a great love for the truth, so that we may always live in the truth whatever the sacrifice involved, and speak the truth without cowardly ambiguities, motivated by charity in everything.