Truth

One phrase I have been hearing tossed around more and more over the last few years is “my truth.” I keep hearing people say things like, “I need to speak my truth,” or, “That person is speaking their truth.” I have even had discussions with people who outright deny that there is anything true; everything is subjective (up to me to decide), there is no objective truth. However you phrase it, the debate comes down to a simple question, one that was famously asked 2000 years ago: What is truth? (see Pontius Pilate)

So what is truth then? Fr. Mike Schmitz offers a rather interesting definition: “Something is either true or false to the degree that it conforms to reality, to what is.” This means that real truth is understood as being based on something outside of oneself. It is grounded in the reality that is outside of oneself, and because of that, it cannot change without becoming untrue. A dog is an animal with four legs, fur and that barks; we cannot change that statement to say that a dog is an animal with fins and which lives in the water without it becoming untrue. Objective truth is something grounded in reality, a reality outside of our own opinions or desires.

St. Paul tells us in one of his letters that truth is in Jesus; Jesus Himself even says, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” What they mean by this is that Jesus is God with us; therefore, when Jesus speaks or acts, it is God who is speaking and acting. It is God who has created all things that are, the whole of reality, and therefore God is truth, Jesus is truth. To suggest otherwise would be unreflective of reality. As GK Chesterton put it: “A Catholic is a person who has plucked up courage to face the incredible and inconceivable idea that something else is wiser than he is.” May God grant us the grace to know the Truth more fully, found in Jesus Christ our Lord.