The New Year has begun. As we continue to celebrate the Christmas Season on this Ninth Day, we are drawn to reflect on the truth that the earthly Jesus, the child and son born of Mary, is truly the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. It is common in today’s society to accept all views as equally valid or true, because many do not see truth as absolute. This is a most insidious creation of Satan, the Father of Lies, for he knows that God himself IS Truth! Thus, if anyone’s perspective or opinion is to be understood as truth, well, there cannot be an unchanging, infinite, eternal God; plain and simple.
In John’s First Letter, we hear, “I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth. Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. No one who denies the Son has the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.” (NAB, 1JN 2:21-23) We live in a time of lies. We are drowning in lies, and worse, we have accepted that lies disguised as “personal truths” are ok. Love compels us to the Truth, and if we are to accept lies as truth, we have denied love as well, for to truly love our brother or sister means to desire the very best for them, and that is the Truth that is Jesus Christ and his teachings handed down from generation to generation from the Apostles.
Father, give me strength and courage to love my neighbor and myself with the love which comes from you. You are Love and you are Truth. May my life always be one of compassion, forgiveness, and mercy, as I live out and proclaim the Truth of Jesus Christ in the world. Let me not be distracted by the lies that are rampant today, but let your light shine into these places of darkness so that Truth and Love may prevail. Amen.
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