WHAT WE WOULD GIVE TO KNOW TRUTH
"Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you
would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything.” (Rainer
Rilke)
There is no point
in attempting to get high school students to read Shakespeare when a teacher recognizes
that they need remedial English. We all know the principle that you have to
take people where they are. St. Paul followed this principle. When Paul
preached to the Jews of his time, he presumed that they had an understanding of
God from the revelation given to their fathers. But when he went to Athens in
Greece, he started with the basics, that there is but one God Who made the
heavens and the earth.
Jesus Himself
worked slowly and patiently with the Apostles. Even at the end of His life, He
declared to them, "I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it
now" (Jn 16:12). Jesus' statement implied that there was something beyond
the "now," a time when the Apostles would advance in their knowledge
and understanding of Truth. That time was the day we will soon celebrate again,
the day of Pentecost - the moment of the coming of the Holy Spirit to guide the
Church to all truth.
Truth! What we
would give to know all truth! It seems as though we always want it all at once,
but if we did I think we would be missing the opportunity to grow in the
fashion that God made us as humans. After all, we are human beings! I like what
Rainer Rilke wrote, "Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart
and try to live the questions themselves. Do not now seek the answers, which
cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point
is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually,
without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answers." This
is great wisdom for us to reflect upon.
As we reflect upon
truth, however, it is not something we are able to create nor is it our
discovery. It is a gift of our heavenly Father Who is the Possessor and the
Giver of all truth. Jesus tells the disciples that it is the role of the Holy
Spirit to reveal what is true. How can this be? Skeptics of truth don't want to
believe in an absolute Truth. If truth is objective then it must be submitted
to as authoritative. Some fear the truth because they think it will inhibit
their freedom. Jesus told us in Scripture that "the truth will set you
free" (Jn 8:32). The truth liberates us from doubts, illusions, and fears.
Since God is the Source of all truth, then the closer we draw to Him and listen
to His Word, the more we grow in the knowledge of God and of His great love for
us. Jesus also said, "But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will
guide you to all truth" (Jn 16:13). He guides us always!!!
Jesus returned to
the Father in order to send the Holy Spirit upon the Church as our guide.
Jesus, through His life and death, had proclaimed the Good News. He had formed
the nucleus of the Church. Having fulfilled His mission, He returned in glory
to the Father so that from Them could come forth the Holy Spirit to develop and
guide the Church. The Holy Spirit directs the life of the Church and of each
one of us as an individual member. To take the Church wherever it is in any
particular era and supplies its needs for a better understanding of the Faith.
During the Second Vatican Council, it is Holy Spirit Who directed our bishops
in their marvelous work. The Spirit is also the One Who will help us in our
need for a better understanding of our Faith today.
In our Responsorial
Psalm, we praised God! Praise is a prayer of acceptance, joy, love, obedience,
and worship. We can thank God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
for indeed this is a precious gift for us all.