Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 - 5th Week of Lent - Wed
[Dan 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 and John 8:31-42]If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
One of the signature "mottoes" of the Dominican Order is the single word, VERITAS! - the Latin word for TRUTH. It appears in all kinds of Dominican literature and logos, etc. Indeed it is a fitting word to describe the Order of Preachers, even if history may demonstrate that we have had periods when our struggles to live up to that motto have been less successful than others! We live in a highly secular and scientifically oriented world now and without being cynical like Pilate, we Dominicans, like so many other well-intentioned folks must ask ourselves, "What is Truth?" Even if we make all kinds of distinctions and debate the meaning of the word with a small "t" or a capital "T," our definitions may seem to be only partial - or will be if we rely only on our own reason and leave faith out of it. This is the crux of the matter in today's gospel scripture.
Truth and Freedom come together in Jesus' statement, quoted above. Jesus confronts his opponents with the Truth, which includes their unwillingness to believe in him. Their understanding of slavery is a cultural one since slavery was a reality in their day. They do not understand their slavery to a way of belief that prevents them from recognizing the Truth which is Jesus! The relationship with Abraham is not the issue. Abraham is part of the Truth that is staring them in the face: the person of Jesus Christ! Truth is a person, not a content! This is why Pilate's question during Jesus' "trial" is so ironic - the answer to it was standing in front of him. Truth is not a WHAT but a WHO! All other self-understanding, no matter how culturally or scientifically "established" finds its ultimate meaning in the Truth which God has given and is. Jesus' audience would not be the first to find that hard to understand. Our senses and measuring instruments do not reveal everything worth knowing!
Lent offers us the opportunity to place what "truth" we know of ourselves and our world in the light of the "Truth" that is Jesus Christ. If he is "the Way, the Truth and the Life," all other ways of knowing become simple instruments for reaching the Truth that created this world we live in and made us in the image and likeness of God. Our human problems with this challenge are what gave rise to the events of Holy Week. Any effort to destroy the Truth, whether by crucifixion or indifference, will be ultimately enslaving. AMEN