Reject Lies and Choose Truth

Genesis 2:4-9, 15-17; Psalm 104:1-4, 27-28, 29-30; Mark 7:14-23

“Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.” -John 17:17

This request, this prayer to God in the Gospel of John expresses the desire of every human heart: to be consecrated and made holy. Not only that, but also to be changed by God, in Him, with Him, and through Him. Whether we fully understand it or not, that’s the life we all seek. It’s who we are as humans. God said as much when he revealed to the prophet Ezekiel: “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your impurities.” (37:26-29). God indeed has given us a new spirit and a new heart by sending his Son Jesus to be our Savior. Additionally, by the sanctifying grace of the Sacraments which Jesus gave us through His Church, we truly can be made holy, consecrated, in the truth of God.

That being said, you would think that growing in the holiness of God would be what we all strive for and be the central purpose of our lives. However, it seems that no matter how wonderful God’s blessings are, we always want more. We’re so easily deceived by the enemy and our own self-centered nature that we often convince ourselves that faith, hope, and love aren’t enough. We eventually believe that there’s something better out there or that God is holding us back from what we think we deserve. Soon, we forget the blessings that Jesus gives us and the sacrifice that He, God Incarnate, made for us. We revert back to the beginning of time when Adam and Eve were given everything, but it still wasn’t enough. God only asked one thing of them: not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. He even warned that if they ate from that tree, they would be doomed to die. Yet with just a simple lie, the devil was able to convince them that God was holding them back and denying them what was rightfully theirs.

“Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.”

As Christians, we know this, but so often, we choose like Adam and Eve instead of choosing to embrace God’s truth and grow in holiness. When we allow the lies of the enemy to enter our hearts and minds, we pick our own forbidden fruit. The devil is very good at presenting our weaknesses to us as things we cannot live without.

Likewise, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus makes an analogy about things that defile us. His Jewish audience would have understood well, as they observed strict dietary rules and believed that not obeying these rules would make one unclean (unholy). Within this context, Jesus explains that it’s not things from the outside (like the foods we eat) that defile us, but it is the evil that rises within our own hearts. From within us comes evil thoughts of unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, etc. So if we want to live our lives according to Jesus’ teachings, grow in holiness, and avoid the evils of the world, what do we do? How can we become consecrated in the truth?

When Jesus was on trial before His death, Pontius Pilate asked him if He was a king. Jesus answered, “You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” In response to this, Pilate then asks Jesus what truth is. While he might not have known what truth is, we certainly do. Truth is not just a word or a thing; Truth is a person. Truth is Jesus. In John 18, Jesus Himself affirms this fact as He says, “I am the Way, and the TRUTH, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (18:37-38, emphasis added). 

So, how do we become consecrated in the Truth? Quite simply, by building a strong, personal relationship with the Truth, Jesus Christ Himself. Furthermore, the path on which we can arrive at that relationship is the Catholic Church founded by Christ, with her Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the Magisterium. 

Am I saying that the Church is the only way to build a strong relationship with Jesus and grow in holiness? To be totally honest, I am not the most knowledgeable, but I know that it’s never a good idea to put a limit on the love and mercy of God. I can’t say with absolute certainty that there aren’t other ways to grow in holiness (with heaven as the ultimate destination), but I do have an anecdote that helps clarify the answer. One man, when presented with this question, gave this as his reply: “We might not need the Church to build a strong relationship with Jesus and grow in holiness, but then again, you also don’t need an airplane or ship to travel from California to Hawaii. You could do it, but brother, it’s gonna be a long swim! So let’s do it Jesus’ way.”

“Your word, O Lord, is truth; consecrate us in the truth.”

Amen.