Fr Billy Swan
Dear friends. One of the best gifts I received from Santa as a child was a chemistry set. I loved it because it introduced me to the thrill of discovering how things work and how they interact. It led me later in life to specialise in the study science and chemistry and to work professionally in that field for a number of years. But it all began with that gift of the chemistry set at Christmas that ignited a passion to discover what it true.
Today, we celebrate at Christmas another gift that leads us, not just to what is true, but to the truth itself. In the Gospel of Matthew and Luke, we have the story of the angels and the shepherds, Mary and Joseph and the child born in Bethlehem. But in the Gospel of John, he tells the story another way by telling us that God’s Word and truth has come to us in a human form, in human language and in ways we can understand. The Word given to us is a Word of unconditional love but also the Word of truth.
As he would later testify before Pilate during his passion, Jesus was born for this, to bear witness to the truth and all who are on the side of truth listen to his voice. This truth of Jesus and his Gospel demands a response. We can either ignore this truth as we do ant times and as the Gospel predicts; or we can live by that truth and become free.
Sometimes we look at Christmas only with the eyes of a child: the gentle Jesus in a crib who makes no demands of us and doesn’t bother us too much either. But in the Gospel today which is the masterpiece from the first chapter of John’s Gospel, Jesus Christ came ‘full of grace and truth’. This changes everything. No longer can we make up our own truth but must discover the truth and live by it with integrity. The problem with modern culture is that although we still value the truth, we are more and more losing our desire to live according to its demands. We hear these days that we live in a post-truth world with much evidence of fake news, misinformation and ideologies that carry the day. This is because of how we perceive truth that inconveniences us and might impinge on our freedom.
This half-hearted commitment to what is true, is played out today in life-issues where human choice has the power to overrule truths that do not suit. It is seen in the inconvenient truth of climate change when scientific data and predictions are ignored in order to protect our freedoms, livelihoods and lifestyles. Loving the truth means placing a higher value on what is true than my personal desires and wishes. There is a phenomenon on social media these days called ‘trending’ that convinces people that if you want something hard enough, you can make it happen. But wanting something to be true does not make it true. Truth is not invented but discovered and ignored at our peril.
Our Church and our world needs people who care more about the truth than themselves. Instead of bending the truth to suit ourselves we must conform to what the truth tells us. Only then can we be free and courageous. Yet the truth of Christ is not a hard truth but a gracious truth that is merciful and loving. As we live through these first days of the new year and contemplate the crib at Bethlehem before it is put away, may we see the grace and truth of Christ revealed and given to us. And may we commit ourselves to seeking the truth and having the courage to go where it leads us.
Commenti