“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?” Before one approaches the witness stand in a court of law, you stand before an officer, raise your right hand and promise to answer truthfully any questions posed to you by an attorney. It is a solemn oath and perjury is a serious violation. Of course, any smart witness will not provide information beyond what is asked of them but only answer the questions posed. Sometimes the answers may be nothing more than a “yes” or “no.” Other times it may demand more detail. Nonetheless, the search for the “truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” is the intent of any investigation.
In my book, The Seal: A Priest’s Story, I relate my brief experience on the witness stand. I recall at the end of the officer’s question, adding: “So help me God.” As I stood there in my roman collar with my right hand raised the officer faintly smiled at my addition. Someone had to bring God into that courtroom!
But, what is the truth? Who determines what is true or false? Today’s Gospel from John 15: 26 – 16:4 we hear Jesus promise his Apostles, “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify . . .”
John uses legal terms by Jesus to describe the Holy Spirit’s role in our daily lives. This coming Sunday we recall Jesus’ Ascension and in two weeks, the Feast of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It is a moment to mark the coming of the “Advocate” upon us. Jesus is leaving this earth and will no longer be physically present to his Apostles but he will return and be more fully present than he was even in his risen body. As long as Our Lord remained on earth, he was restricted by space and time. But after the resurrection he no longer was restrained. Now he could return, send his Spirit to us and become the measure of truth.
The term “advocate” is literally your promoter, backer, sponsor, or lawyer. It is one who stands in defense of you. As the line goes, “Only a fool has himself as a lawyer.” While a rare individual would choose to act as their own lawyer in a court of law it is foolish to do so. We need a defender of truth; one who can speak on our behalf and defend our innocence. One who can explain to us the fine points of the law and the way in which we stand with confidence in the truth. This is essentially the Holy Spirit’s purpose: to defend and preserve the truth of Jesus’ teaching revealed to the Apostles and passed down since that time to each generation.
Jesus well knew what his Apostles and all Christians would be up against. It is clear from any quick read of history. The martyrs of the Church will forever be held in the highest esteem. If we fast forward to our world today we continue to see the truth challenged and confused. In our age of selective memory, lack of personal responsibility, the deflecting of blame from ourselves, moral confusion, and justification for bad behavior, we need a measure of truth more and more.
The Church defends a measure of absolute truth: the sanctity of human life in all its stages of development from conception till natural death, the dignity of the human person, a fair balance of justice and a special compassion for the poor and defenseless, the responsibility of charity, the forgiveness of sin, the possibility of conversion for even the hardest of hearts, the sanctity of marriage and family life. All these based in the absolute guide of the 10 Commandments given to Moses ages ago on Mt. Sinai. The lived experience of the Church and the moral teaching of Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount from Matthew's Gospel, chapter 5, provide practical applications. Such moral values imbue our social and moral teaching. When these truths are attacked, we rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to defend us as we stand by our faith based principles passed down to us through the centuries of Christian history.
When we are confused as to what the Church teaches and why it teaches as it does, we must go to prayer and ask the Holy Spirit for guidance to know and defend what is true. We must make use of the scriptures and practical resources such as official teaching by our Magisterium, a careful study of history and good Catholic resources such as the Catholic Catechism.
Despite the shortcomings of Bishops, priests, and all Christian leaders the preservation of true teaching, what God has revealed to us from the time of the Apostles, is a sign of the Spirit’s defense among us. As we consider the saints and sinners of the Church over the twenty centuries of Christian history, we know this Spirit has been defending us overtime! If it wasn’t for the Holy Spirit among us we would have disappeared centuries ago into the bin of failed human experiments.
Pentecost is on the way so we pray:
Come Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of all who believe and guide us in your truth.
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