Fed by the Truth
One
Jesus said: I am the Light of the World. He who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life. John 8:12
God is the source of all truth. His Word is truth.
Just as the body needs food, water and oxygen to live, the three powers of the soul, the intellect, will and emotions need to be nourished by reality. The Intellect needs to be nourished by reality in the form of truth. The Will needs to be nourished by reality in the form of goodness. And the emotions need to be nourished by reality in the form of beauty. Without food and water, the body will die. Without reality in the form of truth, goodness and beauty the soul begins to die from a sense that life is meaningless.
Two
The intellect is nourished by reality in the form of truth. Our soul needs to feed on truth to thrive. What is truth? Truth is the ability of the intellect to grasp or understand reality accurately. Once the intellect possesses truth, then the mind is satisfied and we can rest. That is why we are restless when we can’t understand something. The intellect rests when it possesses, in other words, locks in the truth it wants to understand.
The Intellect was made for truth like the stomach was made for food. Too often, instead of feeding our intellect with reality, the real food it needs, we settle for a cheap counterfeit of being “well informed” through the news and social media that does not give us reality and therefore truth. In our need, our addiction to be well informed we have turned into junk food addicts garbo dining on that which is not true.
Lent starts next Wednesday. So here is a challenge this Lent: pay attention to how many minutes each day you spend being well informed by the news or social media – whichever form your addiction is served to you. Then spend at least and equal amount of time reading or listening to the Word of God that comes to us through the Bible, Sacred Tradition, such as the writing of Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Therese of Liseux, and the Magisterium, the teachings of the Church, such as the Catechism or the writings of the Popes.
three
Become what you eat
It is not enough to feed on the truth through the Word of God. We must digest. We eat by reading or listening to the Word. We digest it by reflecting upon it for a span of time. This is what we call meditation. But we must also assimilate our food. We assimilate the Word of God by forming a resolution to remember and put into practice the truth we have taken in. We need all three to be nourished by the Word of God: Read, Reflect and then practice a resolution. For as Jesus said: Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Listen to Jesus by reading or listening to His Word; then think about it and apply it to your life. Always conclude by making a simple concrete resolution to put into practice what you have thought about and reflected upon.
four
Jesus then said: While you have the light, believe in the light that you may become sons of light. Then he tells us: You are the light of the world.
The plan of Jesus is for us to receive the light, the truth from him, meditate on it, lock it in, put it into practice and then we are to be the light for others not only by our example but also by our words.
That’s the scary part isn’t it. We must be a light for the world not only by our example, but Jesus also expects us to proclaim the truth by our words. This is particularly difficult in a polarized and angry world in which one word can spark a firestorm.
So let me suggest two ways you can be a light, a truth-bearer to those around you. The first and most important truth your family and friends need to know is that if they don’t change their ways they are going to hell. Just kidding.
The first truth they need to know is that both God and you delight in them, you both think they make the world a better place just by being in it. It is good that you exist, how wonderful you are.
How do we do this? Invite people to share life with you: Have a meal or coffee or a beer or take a walk or watch a game. And while you do so be genuinely interested in their lives.
A world that thinks their value comes from their achievements alone needs to experience the truth that they are valued unconditionally by you and by God just because they exist.
That truth is the precondition for advancing in relationship with God.
That is the first truth you can give them.
five
Jesus also said “A prophet has no honor in his own household.
It can be really hard to share the truth with someone you love because we are afraid of ruining the relationship.
OK – here is another way – let me do it.
Every day I create a one-minute reflection on the truth of our faith and record it with one decade of the Rosary.
Consider asking a family member or friend – or heck ask four or five of them if they would interested and willing to pray one decade a day for some specific prayer intention.
People are more apt to do something like this to help someone else.
Then sign them up to receive the one-decade Rosary meditation each day.
Joined together you will pray one Rosary each day for that intention.
Let me give them little bite-sized portions of the truth daily.
If they get mad at me – well, it won’t hurt your relationship.