What a timely question for today’s secular culture and for our Church.

This weekend’s readings speak to the interrelationship between morality and truth and our lived lives—as well as the building block of Truth and its inherent limitations. If something is an absolute truth, it is by its definition, limited in scope. A truth cannot be multiple things or be comprised of different hues of truth. Specifically, let us look to the second reading from the Letter of James where we hear that “All good living and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alteration or shadow caused by change.” Consistency is the common denominator when it comes to the teachings of God.

The meaning behind this statement is that God’s Truths are absolute—they (and God) are
immutable—“unable to change”—God, and His Truths, is (are) who He Is. Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote extensively on the topics of Absolute Truths and Relativism. In his papal writings—and to paraphrase the Holy Father—he notes that the Truths of God are unchanging from age-to-age and that what was true in 33 AD or 490 BC remain true today—even when culture and practice seek changes.. According to Merriam-Webster, “Relativism” is defined as the “theory that knowledge is relative to the limited nature of the mind and the conditions of knowing; (b): a view that ethical truths depend on the individuals and groups holding them.” To
that end, Truth is “flexible” and dependent upon each particular circumstance. Do we want that fluidity in the Love of God for each of us—dependent upon time, place and circumstance?

If that be the case, then this logic would say that flexibility must apply to all issues—from kindness and charity extended to one in need, to the more horrific issues of rape, murder, or even the very meaning and essence of our Christian vows in marriage—or any other moral claim.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the world about the Truths of God: His Divine Love, His hope for our
soul’s Eternal Salvation, the gifts of Charity, Compassion and Joy—things that must, if they are
true, be everlasting—if they are to hold any real, absolute meaning. God is Love: A simple truth that cannot change if God is God.

Today’s modern culture calls “truths” to be ever-changing rather than ever-lasting, out of
convenience or personal feelings, desires and wants. We see this illustrated when our culture demands “acceptance” and “tolerance” of everything—the need to make things easier to handle and accept—rather than to be a culture of standards and beliefs that benefit all life and seek to raise it to its highest dignity, including but not limited to a shared respect for life, and its sacredness.

(The Letter of) James asks us to consider the absolute truths of God which are meant for all His
children no matter what a certain time-or-place demands. Life is Sacred. The Family is the building block of humanity, mothers and fathers are of equal dignity and are complimentary in the way the Divine Image and Likeness of God is illustrated in the world, and that God’s Love demands a response from us—one of love for God and for neighbor—without end. In our readings today we are told that what goes into us is not the source of defilement but rather
what comes from within—emanating from the heart—is the source of corruptibility in our body,
mind or spirit. The teachings we follow and accept are what “pollute” our Wills. Often times, as human beings we are wrapped up in the peripheral and not so much on the reality of our formation. From whom do we accept “Truth?” From: God and His teachings, politicians, professors, media, the Left or the Right, faith, movies? What or by whom are our hearts
formed?

We have personally chosen our Catholic faith for my formation. In today’s second reading we hear: “Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you and is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” The Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council, called by Pope John XXIII, asked the people of God to have a “full, conscious, and active participation” of the
faith as their moral bearing. That the Truths of God, through Christ His Son, are meant to be the driving force or motivating factor behind all that we are: people of faith in the heart, which enables the eyes of faith to recognize a need and then motivates the body to accomplish the Will of God. Nothing from that foundation can defile the person. Only the world, when motivated by injustice, hate, or indifference can defile the good that God created in us.
 

For faith is a choice, and our wills are free to be among
“the many” who follow the Lord.