Thursday, August 19, 2010

Hasty Answers, Hasty Blunders

If only we realized how important it is to be on the side of truth we would not be so hasty in our statements or answers. We ought to be conscious of what the truth really is or means. First it is identical with a complete reality being spoken of or described. So in courts of justice where they require from you the truth, they will ask: Do you promise to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth without any mental reservations or purpose of evasion? So it is said a lie is a half-truth, that is, part only of the truth. So let’s beware of voicing out inaccurate statements, just because of hurry or we want to appear like a hypocritical know-it-all person. What will you get from such appearances when they are only other forms of deception. It’s essential to follow the way of truth because the very opposite is being part of the devil’s tactics, how he has attempted to deceive humanity from the very beginning, and bring as many as possible to the underworld of eternal hell. St. Teresa of Avila , a Carmelite and great teacher in the Church showed how much she favored truthfulness in our talks or statements. Her quoted maxim is quite proverbial. She said: “Never affirm anything unless you are sure it is true.” That will be important advice for media people who are heard by the many who tune in to their radio or TV sets.

Why did Jesus undergo such torments of the Cross for love of us? Because if one were to be condemned to the fires of hell, they are an eternity of pain. I realize why St. Faustina who was privileged with a vision of hell (see paragraph 741 of her diary), ended with a prayer: “Consequently, I pray even more fervently for sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than offend You by the least sin.” This shows why the Church places great value on humble suffering, as Jesus saved us by His sufferings on the Cross. The Cross has become the sign of our redemption (cf. Col. 1:24 and the encyclical of Pope John Paul II – Salvifici Doloris).

In Jn. 8:44, Jesus describes the devil as a murderer and the father of lies.

The last book of the Bible talks about the kind of people who will be welcomed into the gates of heaven. “The pagan nations will live by its light and the kings of the earth will bring it their treasures. The gates of it will never be shut by day – and there will be no night there and the nations will come bringing their treasures and their wealth. Nothing unclean may come into it: no one who does what is loathsome or false, but only those who are listed in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev. 21:24-27). Doing what is loathsome or false points to a life that is not in accord with God’s rulings of purity, righteousness and truth because God is truth and justice par excellence. Yet in his infinite mercy He invites and calls us back to His fold in a life of change and conversion towards our eternal destiny in heaven. The lives of saints testify how their many trials contributed towards their ascent to the heights of sanctity. “We know that by turning everything to their good God cooperates with all those who love him, with all those he has called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28).

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