The Challenge of Truth

As children, we are always told to tell the truth, and as parents we repeat those same words to our own children. The reasoning behind it has always been that the truth is easier, but it is?

Everyday we deal with multiple truths. Some are very simple and we do not even blink, but others can be more difficult, more thoughtful, more real, and more frightening than we ever imagined. How easy is it to “see” the truth when you’ve been told you have an illness, that a parent is dying, that a company is failing, that you can’t pay your bills, that your child has an addiction problem, that you may not graduate from high school? Many times we do not “see” the truth because the perception of truth is in the eye of the beholder. We do not “see” what we fear, what makes our life uncomfortable, what we have a hard time believing. 

The Gospel today reveals to us that the reality of truth, even when told to us by Christ, can be difficult to bear. Peter’s disbelief that he will deny Jesus three times, even after Christ explained the truth of the events to him was frightening and unbelievable, but the truth still prevailed. Sometimes, in life, the truth is also so blunt that we prefer the comfort of lies as the High Priests did when they denied the truth of Christ, the truth from Pilate and Herod that Jesus was not guilty, and that they would prefer the freedom of the true criminal, Barabbas, to the truth of Christ. Each time I read these passages, and many others throughout the Bible, I always ask “How could they not have seen the truth? How could they not have spoken the truth?” but then I remember that they were human too.

Is truth easy? In a single word, no. Christ lived out faith, belief, honesty, love, suffered and died for us, and he was Truth. Truth is hard, it makes us vulnerable in both the telling and hearing of it. Yet in the telling, understanding, and acceptance of truth we find our purpose, our humanity. In our acceptance of Christ, in His life, suffering and Passion, we find our Salvation, our Truth.

Author: Jennifer Costello, Social Studies Dept.